Pretty in Black
by Jai Akari
Summary: COMPLETE! Rin had always been loyal to her family traditions and was left alone. But now she must decide between carrying out her family's pledge, or following her heart and stay by the one she's just starting to love...HoroOC
1. Chapter 1 Revised

**Welcome to the revised version of Pretty in Black. I hope you enjoy! **

_**Italics state a thought. **_

_**Bold italics indicate a flashback.**_

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Shaman King. I only own this fanfic and any OC characters that may pop up.

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Pretty in Black

Chapter 1

_Otosan, Okasan, Oniisan… I love you… I'll see to it that we're all together again. I swear on the Matsumura name.

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_In its days of glory, the house of Matsumura was filled with family and servants. The main house and its adjoining rooms were filled with beautiful treasures. Even in the modern age in which they lived, the Matsumura's always wore traditional clothing, ate traditional foods, and basically did and had everything the traditional way believing that modern technology took them farther away from nature. Even in the large house, only Rin lives there now. The servants had all quit and left, the small number of family members left in the house either died or shunned the Matsumura way of life and left the house looking to live a modern life. 

Her father Yoshiyo and mother Sakura led this ancient family, and were desperate to keep them together while one by one Matsumura's left the compound until only Rin, her parents and brother remained.

Not long after that, Yoshiyo died of blood poisoning when a wound on his arm got infected and did not heal correctly. Sakura, a beautiful, delicate woman with a kind, soft heart, tried to send Rin and her brother to family in the modern world but they refused unwilling to leave her alone.

Rin's brother, Tsuji, did everything he could to take care of his mother and little sister to make sure they had a comfortable life, but died of pneumonia the next winter, which was a heavy blow to Rin and Sakura who soon died of heartbreak and the stress of losing the only heir to the family and the traditional Matsumura way of life.

Even at 10 years of age, Rin was a deep thinker. Sitting at the family graves and reflecting her life so far, she concluded that as the only traditional Matsumura left, she was now head of the family. In her young mind, it was the most logical answer. As her first command, she sent messages to any family members alive ordering them to come back to the main house. Refusals saying that the Matsumura way of life were dead and there was nothing for them there made their way into Rin's hands. The messages also claimed that the modern world held more opportunities for them.

Angry and feeling betrayed, Rin disowned them and cut off any contact with them, closing up the house to live alone and care for the grounds and the family ancestors and claimed herself as the last Matsumura and guardian of the ancestor's spirits.

4 years passed and the world forgot about the once famed family except in history books. Several companies tried to take over the compound in hopes of turning it into a hot springs resort or tourist site, but quickly left claiming that it was haunted and a witch lived there. Which is true, yet false at the same time. It is true that a "witch" lives there, but it is not true that it is haunted. You see, even though Rin is the "witch", no ghosts or spirits dwell there due to Rin's care of their graves and Rin's ability as a shaman. Which is where the story starts.

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Rin woke and before anything else paid her respects to the family ancestors and parents and brother, then dressed as a servant for the upcoming work. Tying up her hair, Rin stared at herself in the mirror and studied her face at different angles. People had always told her that she was beautiful, but had decided that she was more pretty than beautiful. Beautiful was too strong of a word.

"_**Rin-chan, you're growing to be a beautiful young lady! Why, I wouldn't be surprised if all the boys wanted to marry you!"**_

_**An 8-year-old Rin scowled. "Okasan, I don't want to get married! I want to be a shaman like Ojiisan and Oniisan and compete in the tournament and never have to depend on anyone!"**_

_**Sakura laughed. "Rin-chan, the Shaman Tournament is not a place for you. Besides, when that starts, you'll be 14 and you know that Otosan won't let you go. That destiny is reserved for your Oniisan."**_

"_**It's not fair! Why can't I have a destiny like Oniisan?"**_

_**Sakura went down onto her knees and held her small daughter close. "You'll have your own destiny to fulfill someday Little Bell. Don't worry."**_

_The Shaman Tournament._

Rin had not forgotten about that and had trained herself as a shaman by reading the tomes left behind in the _Tamashii no Horu_, the Hall of Spirits where all Matsumura shaman trained and was pleased to be taking on her brother's destiny. Yet at the same time, it scared her. The future, that is. Rin had always wanted a destiny to call her own when she was small, but never dreamed that she would be taking Tsuji's for her own.

_I had better leave today. I don't want to be missed as a contestant.

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The morning was sunny and warm and a breeze rustled through the trees. Rin, having packed as much as she could carry for the journey to Tokyo, went to the familial graves to visit everyone one last time.

"I'm going now to compete in the Shaman Tournament. I know that I wasn't supposed to, and that was reserved for Tsuji-oniisan, but I hope that you will forgive me. When I win I promise that I'll have everything back to the way it was. When I come back, I'll tell you all about my adventures. Mother, you were right, I have gotten my own destiny to fulfill. Oniisan, I'll do my best for you. Otosan, I know you didn't ever want me to leave you, but now I have to. I hope you will understand. I'll take care of myself."

Standing up, Rin brushed off her clothing and left the graveyard after tucking two memorial tablets into her sash. Moving into the main yard, a gray horse materialized in front of her.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked. "I don't know how long I can manage to keep my furyoku up to sustain you, but we'll have to do our best." The ghost-horse just snorted as if to agree while allowing itself to be led out of the front gate, which Rin closed and locked behind her. Taking a last look at her home, Rin mounted and left all familiarity and comfort behind to an unknown future as a shaman.

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**How do you like the revised version so far? Review and let me know. I have corrected all ages for all of the characters since I messed it up in the first version. So everyone's ages are back to normal. Thank goodness.**

**I hope I got a fairly accurate translation of Tamashii no Horu. If not, well, bear with my bad translation.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! I'm back with chapter 2 of Pretty in Black. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Ch 1 was more of a prologue. I named the story what I did b/c Rin wears black all the time except when wearing servants clothes. **

**Sorry it took so long to update. I was correcting something and the chapter got deleted so I had to rewrite it. I hope to keep a steady update while writing this story, so when 1 chapter is done, and published, immediately start on the next chapter. Yup, that will be the routine, and you will review and tell me what you think and what can be improved in the story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own SK**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 2

Once Rin arrived in Tokyo, she was disgusted at how black smoke poured from trucks and everything moved so fast and averyone was always in a hurry. In her traditional clothes, horse and carriage, many people looked at her funny and Rin did not like being stared at.

While riding down the street, a police officer stopped her. "Excuse me miss, but you will have to move off the road."

What do you mean 'move off the road'? How elso am I supposed to get where I am going?" she said starting to get annoyed that she was being denied passage.

"I mean that you are holding up traffic that needs to get through. If you want I can escort you to the police station and have a horse trailer and trailer brought up for your carriage to take you to wherever you are going."

"No thank you. I am perfectly happy travelling like this. Could you please tell me how to get to Saigan Temple?"

"Yes, but you will have to travel outside the city. I can escort you to a place where you can safely and easily travel without getting in the way of traffic." the policeman said.

"Thank you" Rin said, happy to get out of the city of steel. The man got on his motercycle and brought Rin to a two-lane road leading to Funbari and told her that there was a map showing the rest of the way to the shrine as well as signs pointing in the direction of certian landmarks then he left.

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Finally reaching Saigan Temple, Rin stopped the horses at the cemetary gatesand went inside. While walking through the cemetary, Rin could not help but sense all the ghosts that were there.

_Tokyo sure has a lot of restless spirits. Even in the main city the presence of them is over whelming._

She came to a bridge with a marker saying "Headstone Bridge", and on the hill was l lone headstone that looked as if it had been broken and put back together. Coming around to where she could read the name on the headstone, she read:

'Amidamaru'

"Amazing! The grave of the fiend Amidamaru. I would have thought that his spirit would be haunting the place, but I don't sense his spirit on this hill. I certianly did not feel it it in the main cemetary. He must have gone to heaven when he died."

"Actually, he didn't." a voice behind her said. Turning quickly around, Rin saw a boy around her age, with brown hair and some orange things on his head of which Rin had no knowledge of.

"What did you say?" Rin asked.

"I said that Amidamaru never went to heaven when he died. He stayed right here on this hill." the boy said.

"How do you know? Where is his spirit now if it never went to heaven? I could not sense his spirit here. Everywhere else I could feel a spirit's presence, but not here." Rin said.

"You can see ghosts?"

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"No, because I can see them too! I'm a shaman!" he said happily.

_What a carefree person. _Rin thought. _If he is going to compter in the shaman tournament, he won't make it with that carefree and lazy attitude. I don't wan't o give away the reason I'm here and what I am until I find out more about this kid._

"Really? Then you know what happened to Amidamaru?"

"Yeah! Of course I do! He's my spirit ally!" he said pointing behind him with his thumb.

Looking closely behind him, Rin saw a sanurai with white hair, white, red and black robes, red armor with black outlines, and two kantana's, one on each hip, both hilts red and black.

"I thought he moved on." Rin said.

"Nope. He's here and is my best friend. I'm Asakura Yoh."

"I'm...Akari Rin. Pleased to meet you." Rin said taking a small bow.

"Pleased to meet you too. Are you here for the shaman tournament?" Yoh asked.

"The what?" Rin asked playing it dumb.

"The shaman tournament is where shamans battle each other to become the Shaman King." Yoh explained.

Pretending to think about it, Rin half-lied, "Oh yes, the shaman fights. No, I am not participating. I never trained to become a shaman. I'm here to sightsee. Do you know where I can fins an inn in Funbari."

"The only inn in Funbari Hill is the Flame Inn. But it went out of business and now I live there." Said Yoh.

"You live in a giant inn by yourself?" _Not that it is a big deal. I live in a giant mansion compound by myself._

"Not alone. There is Amidamaru and Anna, and Manta comes over frequently."

"Oh, well, do you mind if I stay there for a while until I find someplace to stay? I can pay you for any expenses."

"Sure. I don't know what Anna will think, but who cares? She can deal with it."

"Thanks. Meet me at the cemetary gates, we can go on from there."

"Ok, I'll meet you there."

Rin left Yoh on the hill and went to her carriage. "Lord Yoh, I believe that Lady Rin was not telling us the entire truth. I believe that she _was_ a shaman." Amidamaru said.

"Yeah, I noticed that she gave her name, she hesitated. I don't think that that was her real name. So you really think that she was a shaman?"

"Yes. If she is, I could not confirm the main spirits form. It seemed to surround her like a smoke."

"Yeah, well, shaman or no, we don't want to keep her waiting. Besides, I was supposed to make dinner tonight and Anna's gonna kill me."

Going to where Rin was, Yoh was astonished at the carriage and its horses. Rin was already in the drivers seat waiting for him. Yoh climbed into the seat beside her and they started in the direction of the inn.

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Upon arriving, Yoh and Rin got down and Yoh told her that she could keep the carriage and horses in the side yard where there was shelter under the trees.

Following Yoh inside the house, Rin felt very at home in the old inn. It was a two story building and very traditional looking despite the modern appliances such as the TV and air conditioning.

"Anna?" Yoh said cautiously.

"You're late Yoh! You were supposed to make dinner! Manta had to make it!" a girl said.

She was Rin's height, had blonde hair, wore a short black dress, a red bandana around her head, and bathroom sandals like Yoh's only red. "Yoh, who's this?"

"Oh, uh, this is Akari Rin. She needed a place to stay until she foung somewhere elso to stay. She has never been to Funbari Hill before." explained Yoh.

"We arn't a boarding house Yoh. We can't afford to keep everyone you make friends with here. Like Horohoro, and he is as stupid as they come!" Yoh sweatdropped.

"Uh, I can pay you for a room. Yoh did say that this used to be an inn." Rin said.

Anna thought for a minute and said, "Alright, you can stay. But you have to do everything that I say. I'll show you to your room."

"Thank you Miss Anna." Rin said. Grabbing her things, Rin followed Anna to one of the guest rooms.

"You can stay here." Anna said.

"I think you again for your hospitality Miss Anna." Rin said. "I promise to earn my keep in any way I can."

"Dinner is ready, so if you want to change clothes make it quick. Otherwise, Horohoro will eat all that is set out for you with that bottomless stomach of his." Anna said as she left the room.

_What a bossy girl. I can't believe that I have to take orders from her and work for her like a servant. I could have paid her for a room. _Rin thought changing into a black kimono with silver flowers and put on black house slippers. Tying her hair into a single braid, Rin went downstairs to dinner.

For the rest of the night until they retired to bed, they talked about diffrent things and Rin "learned" about the shaman tournament.

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In the days that followed, Rin found herself staying at Funbari Inn and doing chores for Anna while being bugged by Ryu with him saying that a "beautiful princess should not have to do work."

She enjoyed talking and became fast friends with Horohoro. She loved the conversations she had with him and whole-heartedly agreed on the dangers that human expansion presented to nature. She especially loved his spirit ally Kororo.

Yoh and Horohoro entered the shaman tournament and both recieved an oracle bell from shaman fight overseers Silva and Kalim.

One night, Rin secretly snuck out and challenged a fight official. She passed in 3 minutes and recieved a black oracle bell. Attaching it to her arm and hiding it under her black kimono sleeve, Rin headed beck to the inn. She knew that she would have to tell the truth about herself soon.

The next day, the first shaman fight was announced: Asakura Yoh vs. Horohoro.

**OK, you know that Rin is a shaman and that she is now in the fights. But what is her ghost and ability? That is the mystery. Did I get Anna's character Anna-ish enough? I think I did.** **When writing this chapter I was stressing on how I was going to introduce the other characters, but as I kept writing it just unfolded like a piece of paper. I still have no idea on what Rin's spirit ally is going to be. If anyone has a certian type of spirit that you would like to see Rin have, please give me your ideas on what would fit her character. I was thinking of a black hawk that integrated into a razor sharp fan. So she would be a wind shaman.**

**I also realized that this story should not be labeled as a "tragedy", more like a general so I will change the genre. There will probably be a_ tiny smidgen_ bit of romance in the story. Not a whole lot. I am pretty bad at writing romances.**

**Please Review!**

**-Jai Akari**


	3. Chapter 3

**Reviews**

**Momo: Yeah, as I told you before, if you don't know who Radagast the Brown is then you'll have trouble understanding the story. I used your spirit idea for the black raven w/ dark powers that integrates into beads like Anna's only their black. I was thinking of a black raven instead of a hawk that integrated into a fan as well, but I like the raven into the beads better.**

**Thank you to all who read my story and reviewed.**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 3

"I don't know who I want to win this fight! Be quiet! I can't concentrate on my sewing with you peppering me with questions!" said Rin irritated at Horohoro who was harassing her with the question of who she hoped was going to witn the first shaman fight: him or Yoh.

"But you do hope that I win right? How can you not say that you want me to beat Yoh? You are coming to the fight right?" Horohoro said.

"It depends if I have to so anything that day."

"What will you be doing at 2:00am in the morning?"

"Sleeping."

"Well, besides that."

_Dang, why does he have to keep egging the conversation on?_ Putting down her sewing in defeat, Rin said, "Alright, I'll come to see your fight debut."

"Yes!" Horohoro cried with delight as he hugged Rin. Suprised at Horohoro's sudden and unexpected contact, Rin tensed a bit but then fianlly relaxed remembering the comfort someone felt when someone they loved hugged them. After all, she had not talked to or felt another person in five years. (A/N: No perverted thoughts! By "felt" I mean like a hug, a handshake, pat on the head, things like that; regular, everyday human physical contact.)

_Wait a minute. _Rin thought. _Love? Where did _that _come from? Horo is one of my first human friends and we have a lot in common, but love? I can't fall in love with an opponent, even if he dosen't lnow that I am in the fights. If he finds out that I lied to him about my name and other things, he probably won't trust me anymore, and I don't want to lose mose my only friends because of it._

Before Rin had completed her thought, Horohoro had run off to tell the others that Rin was coming to see the first shaman fight and she was hoping that he won. Smiling after the blue-haired Ainu, Rin continued sewing up the hole in one of her house slippers.

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Come the day of the fight, Rin made her way to the Sun-Sunshine 60 building with Yoh, Manta, and Anna. Horohoro had left the inn two weeks before due to the fact that his sister Pirika had come to see him, relized that he was under "enemy" care, and dragged him of (quite literally) to continue his training.

Reaching the Sun-Sunshine 60 building, Anna made Yoh change into his battle outfit.

"Anna!" exclaimed Yoh. "This is the exact same training gear from when I was a kid! This is really embarassing!"

"Haha! What is that?" Manta said.

"Arn't you freezing with that outfit on?" Rin joked.

"Do you three have a problem with my hand-made battle costume?"Anna said through clenched teeth.

Yoh: _Hand-made?_

Manta: _So that's what she was doing in her room yesterday._

Rin: _I hope she doesn't kick me out of the house for that comment._

"Wow! You look really nice Yoh!" Manta exclaimed.

"Yeah, it fits great Anna!" Yoh said.

"It is very nice! Its not _that _cold out here." Rin said.

"I won't forget this." Anna said.

"What kind of outfit is that Yoh? I leave you for a few days and your style has gotten really bad!" a voice from above said. Rin and everyone looked up to see Horohoro gliding down on snow emitted from his snowboard. When he reached land...Anna punched him.

"Don't make fun of my hand-made clothing!"

"Hey! You arn't a contestant!" Pirika yelled making her appearance.

"Are you alright Horo?" Rin called. "Pirika-chan! It's wonderful to see you again!" she exclaimed running as fast as her high sandals would permit.

"Hey! What about me? I just got punched in the face!" Horohoro exclaimed.

"I'm sorry Horo. It's wonderful to see you too." Rin said giving him a small hug.

"Alright! It's time to fight!" Horohoro said turning his oversoul on. Rin stood back with Pirika on the sidelines waiting for the fight to start. Horohoro had to attack Yoh early so he would engage his oversoul and wouldn't be disqualified.

The fight beteween Yoh and Horohoro was the first shaman fight Rin had ever seen. Their oversouls were amazing, Horohoro's ice ttacks were beautiful, and Yoh's unusual source of strength was admirable.

Of course, Horohoro's determination to win to create a vast field of butterbur so the Koropokkur would have a home was also admirable, but Rin was determined as well to be Shaman King (Queen in her case) to return her family to glory and have everything the way it used to be. So to her, it did not matter who won, she would have to face them in a battle sooner or later. Speaking of battles, Rin wondered who she would face in her first battle and when and where it was.

Turning her attention back to the fight, Rin watched in awe at what happened next.

"'The god of the mountian sometimes likes to sport with strong mortals'. It's a saying in my village. The saying warns of natures destructive power. But we think of it as a challenge from the moutnian god to strong humans. I recongize you as a strong person Yoh, so I challenge you with all my Furyoku's power." Horohoro said.

"Epikaru Kyuupashi Horusuke!"

Suddenly, a giant avalanche of snow appeared with Horohoro riding his snowboard on top of it. Rin could not make out the words exchanged beteween the two shaman, but she did notice Yoh powering up his oversoul with all the Furyoku he had left, then get buried under the snow.

"Yes! Oniichan won!" Pirika said bouncing with joy.

"I can't believe that I was forced to use that attack in the first match." Horohoro said breathlessly. "I had better dig him out before he suffocates."

Not long after Horohoro had said this, Yoh burst out of the snow and attacked Horohoro missing him on purpose.

"Uh, your Furyoku went out and you briefly broke your oversoul." Yoh pointed out.

"It's alright Pilika. Don't cry." Rin told Pirika trying to comfort her. "He still has two fights left. If he wins both of them, he'll get into the main fight."

"I know. It's just that my lazy bum of a brother didn't train hard enough." Pirika said. "I'll make sure he doesn't lose the last two fights." Everyone sweatdropped except for Anna.

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"Kanpai!" everyone yelled (except Anna). "Here's to Yoh's first victory in the shaman fights!"

Anna was watching TV having nothing to do with the party. Probably thinking of Yoh's training and how she can make it more intense.

Rin, on the otherhand, felt very uncomfortable since she only knew maybe five of the many people that were there. The many people being Ryu's gang who were talking about what they would ask the Great Spirit. Topics included the Big Bang, dinosaurs, the lost civilization of Mu, and crop circles.

Rin had heard about the lost civilization of Mu, but she had never heard of the Big Bang, dinosaurs, or crop circles. She wanted to ask Horohoro about them but did not want to risk blowing her cover.

_"Rin, daijobu?"_

"Hai. I was just thinking about the upcoming fights."

_"You think a lot don't you?"_

"Shut up. Since when it your business?"

_"Since now. As I recall, you never thought things over. You always acted first, then thought."_

"Go away. Leave me be."

"Who are you talking to Rin?" Horohorosaid coming out of the kitchen.

"Nobody. It's just a habit I've got into. I'm tired. I'm going to bed." Rin said rather coldly.

"But the party has just started. Why don't you stay a while and have something to drink?"

"I don't like parties." she said as she went down the hall to her room and shut the door leaving Horohoro a bit sad. _Rin. What's wrong._

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In her room, Rin was now very angry. _No good, dirty rotten...ruining my fun. I'll show him._

"Orikir!" she hissed beteween her teeth as not to be heard.

A jet black raven materialized on the windowsill with an amused look on his face. (If ravens can have amused looks on their faces.)

"Orikir, why must you always say things that make me mad? Why can't you let me have some fun with my new friends?" she asked bitterly.

"Because you need to focus on our goal and improving your shamanic abilities so you can defeat these shaman you're living with so you can become Shaman Queen. Also, the ancestors sent me to be your spirit ally so you will be guranteed victory." Oirkir said matter-of-factly. "And your also getting too emotional."

"What do you mean by that Blackie?"

"Pretending you don't know won't help your case. I'm not blind. I've seen how you act around Bluey. You're getting too attached. You're gonna have to fight him someday."

As if on cue, the oracle pager on Rin's arm rang signaling her first fight. "You better be thankful that I got you mad. If you were still in there, everone would have heard your pager ring then you would have blown your cover." Orikir said.

Ignoring him, Rin looked at the message displayed.

**Tomorrow at 7:00pm at Funbari Park. Your opponent: Matsua Lun.**

"Matsua Lun?" Rin said amused.

"What kind of name is that?" said Orikir who had perched on Rin's shoulder.

"Ha! For once I agree with you Blackie. If you add an "e" to his name, it will almost sound like "looney". Rin laughed.

"Don't call me Blackie."

"Whatever. I'm going to bed. I will prepare for the fight tomorrow. Goodnight Orikir." she said turning off her light.

Orikir had moved off Rin's shoulder to perch on his memorial tablet. He had never heard his master laugh at anything, exception if she heard that something bad happened to one of the expelled family members. Now hanging around Blueyand everyone else, she seemed more...happy and carefree.

_I hope she doesn't get _too_ carefree. I was sent ot make sure that she suceeded, not have fun. _Orikir thought as he dematerialized into his memorial tablet for the night.

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Back at the party, Rin's absence did not go unnoticed. A few minutes after she left, Ryu noticed that among the many people, a black kimono wearing beauty was gone and he started crying about how he was going to tell her that he was going to become a shaman and if she would be his shaman queen.

"Why would she want to be your shaman queen Ryu? She doesn't really acknowledge you. If she does, then it is to compliment your cooking. Besides, she's not even a shaman." said Horohoro.

"Apparently you didn't look too closely." Anna said.

"What?"

"How pathetic. You're a shaman and you couldn't sense her spirit ally. It was pretty obvious that there was another spirit in the house."

"It just might be one of her ancestors she's carrying around for company." Horohoro said taking a bit from his soba noodles.

"What? What do you mean?" said Anna.

"You didn't know? Her family is Shinto. She told me. She carry's around some of her ancestors spirits in a memorial tablet to keep her company when she travels." Horohoro explained.

"If she was, then I would be sensing more than one spirit moron." Anna said.

"When I first met her at the cemetary," Yoh said. "she told me that she never trained to become a shaman. Amidamaru told me that she was most likely a shaman, but he could not comfirm the spirit's form. He said that it seemed to surround her like a smoke."

"Maybe she's a fire shaman." Manta said. "That would explain the smoke."

"Are you all blind?" Ryu said. "With such a beauty as hers and the way she dresses, she's probably an oracle or an itako which would explain those big black beads around her neck she always wears."

_Heh, they arn't too quiet are they?They may guess my shamanic ability, but they but they won't ever find out about me this soon. Orikir needs to lay low for a while until the time is right._ Rin thought as she lay in bed listening to the converstaion continue on before drifting off to sleep waiting fir the next day and her fight.

**Long chapter this time. When I first had Orikir talk to Rin at the party, I was going to have Horohoro talk to her but then I remembered that I needed to introduce Orikir somehow, so I changed it. I was going to name Orikir "Karasu" which is raven in Japanese, so he would be Raven the raven. I mean George of the Jungle has an ape named Ape.**

**-Jai Akari**

**REVIEW**


	4. Chapter 4

**Its been what? A few weeks or more? Sorry about that. I was working on a story that my otosan and I are working on, and I was preparing a Star Wars story, so I was busy with those two things. I also a series of small writers blocks. Battlefront II was also taking up some of my writing time. A little note to Battlefront II players, fans, freaks, whatever: When you are playing a space battle in assault mode, just remember:Kamakazi does not work!**

**I am putting all oracle bell messages in bold**

**Disclaimer: I do not own SK.**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 4

Morning came too quickly for Rin who was quite unhappy that the sun had woken her up and that she would probably be asked questions on who she was and what her business was in Tokyo.

Dressing in her usual black attire but with a red obi, Rin told Orikir to lay low for a while with a warning not to disturb her and took off her oracle bell and hid it in the folds of her futon which was neatly folded in the closet.

Going into the kitchen, Rin sat in her usual place at the table and bid everyone good morning. Luckily, during breakfast, no one asked her any questions concerning shamanic abilities. Instead, the usual routine was preformed with everyone getting their fair share of breakfast before Horohoro. Rin decided to have some fun by using some of the "information" she heard last night by complementiong Ryu on his cooking, then ignoring him. She held back a smirk when Horohoro cast Ryu an I-told-you-so look.

"Rin." said Anna.

"Yes?" answered Rin looking up from her meal.

"When you're done eating, I want you to sweep the front porch. Understood?"

"Yes Miss Anna."

_I want to talk to you about something. _Anna thought taking a sip of her tea.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

After breakfast, Rin did as Anna commanded and started to sweep the porch, when Anna came out.

"You don't have to do that Rin. I just said that so it would not arouse suspicion." she said. Setting the broom aside, Rin stared at Anna waiting for her to say something.

"Who are you and why did you come to Tokyo?" Anna questioned.

"What do you mean? I'm Akari Rin and I came to Tokyo to sightsee. I've never been to Tokyo before."

"Don't even think about lying to me." Anna said menacingly. "Ever since I first met you I could sense your shamanic powers and your spirit ally..."

"But you haven't been able to confirm it's form." Rin said completing Anna's sentence.

"Correct. Now tell me the truth about who you are and why you are here. The latter should be obvious if my hunch is correct." Anna inquired again.

"There is no fooling you is there Anna?" Rin said letting her old self take over. "Fine. You want the truth? You have it. My name is Matsumura Rin. Yes, I am a shaman and I am here for the shaman fights. You guessed correctly on that, but judging by the converstaion you all had about me last night, you all were totally wrong about my ability. That, you will have to figure out for yourself."

_Matsumura? That name sounds so familiar. Where have I..._Anna stopped the thought in realization: this girl was one of the famed Matsusura family. _But that's impossible, they are no more. They said that they were killed by a disease. How could have she have survived such an epidemic? _Anna thought.

"I see you recognize my family name." Rin said sadly. "Yes. I am the only one who remained true to the family values. Everyone else betrayed me and left the main house seeking a modern life." Rin sat down on the front step and told Anna the entire tragic tale.

"Why did you lie to us Rin?" Anna asked.

"I thought that if anyone knew who I was then no one would trust me. Everyone thinks that my family does not exist anymore." Rin said.

"It's not your past that will cause the mistrust. It's how you lied and changed your personality in order to fit in, then telling everyone that you made friends with that you lied to them about yourself. It's that simple." Anna said.

"I suppose that you're going to kick me out of the house now."

"No, I'm not. I will let you stay here on one condition: you will double your chores until I think that you have been disclipined enough, then you will train with Yoh and the others."

"That was two conditions."

"Do you want me to triple your sentence?"

"No."

"Good. Now finish sweeping the porch, then you can clean the kitchen." Anna said as she walked back into the house.

"Anna?"

"Yes?"

"Please don't tell anyone about me. Don't ask me why. It's for safety issues. It's best if only you knew."

Anna nodded as indication that she promised and walked back inside leaving Rin to her chores.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

6:58pm.

Rin was sitting on a bench in the Funbari Park waiting for her opponent to arrive. "Two more minutes until the fight starts and my opponent is still not here." Rin said irritated. "If he's not going to come, then I guess that will be a win for me by forfiet. Orikir, you've been awfully quiet. Whats wrong?"

"..."

"Fine you stupid bird, don't answer me. See what I care."

"Why did you have to tell that Anna girl about us?" Orikir said.

"Because she deserved to know, she had me cornered, and she promised to keep our secret. She's not an easy nut to crack, so if anyone tries to force the information from her, she'll probably send them to visit their neighbors in the next world."

"Hmph."

Rin turned her eyes away from the bird and looked around the surrounding area until her eyes fixed upon an approaching figure.

Standing up from her seat on the bench, Rin took a few steps forward to see who it was. She saw a boy, around 16 or so, she guessed, with red hair and a bo staff in his hand.

"Here he is Orikir." Rin said softly.

The boy entered the fight are and said, "Are you Matsumura Rin?"

"Yes" Rin answered. "I assume that you are Matsua Lun?"

"Correct." Matsua said activating his oversoul. Rin took the long string of black beads from her neck and oversouled Orikir into them. Unbeknownst to them. a shaman fight overseer sat in a tree watching.

**3...2...1...FIGHT!**

"Yami no Yari!" Rin shouted. She drew her beads back and thrust them forward creating a bolt of black energy. (A/N: Yami no Yari- Spear of Darkness. Sorry if it sounds tacky, I wrote the first thing I thought of. Same thing applies to any other attacks that will appear.)

Matsua used the bo staff like a pole in a pole vault to propell himself over over the attack and fly toward Rin. He brought the staff over his head and swung downward. "Bo Hammer!" he yelled. In the high platform sandals she usually wore, Rin could not move quickly enough to evade the attack, so she held her oversoul over her head and created a force field to absorb the attack and reflect it back to its creator.

A direct hit. Rin was pleased with the outcome, deactivated her shield, and delievered the blow that she hoped would finish the fight. "Seismic Shockwave!" A giant black orb appeared and sent out shockwaves of diffrent size, direction and frequency throughout the battlefield.

Matsua was using the Bo Hammer to smack them away, but every time he made contact with the shockwaves or vice versa, bits of his Furokyu were depleted. To avoid this, Matsua continually charged his oversoul to keep it activated.

Rin noticed that he was only paying attention to the shockwaves and was unaware that she was just standing there and would be an easy target.

"Orikir, Yami no Yari one more time. That should deactivate his oversoul." Rin said as she drew her beads back and thrust them forward, again creating a bolt of energy. She charged it up with all her Furyoku until she had 10 left.

_Come on, hit already._ She thought. She added more Furyoku to the attack to give it raven wings to fly faster. _1 Furyoku left. I hope that this ends the fight._

Matsua finished warding off the shockwaves and turned to attack once more only to find himself face-to-face with an energy beam...with wings. He charged up his oversoul to deflect the hit, but too late. The energy bolt hit him and deactivated his oversoul, knocking him to the ground.

"Matsumura Rin is the winner!" the shaman fight overseer announced.

Rin deactivated her oversoul and left the park, heading back to Funbari Inn.

_So tired_. Rin thought._ I've never had to use that much Furyoku before._

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Everyone was eating dinner when they heard the front door open, then close. They watched as Rin came into the dining room, sat down in her usual spot, put some food on her plate, and start eating.

"Where have you been?" Horohoro asked.

"I don't have to answer that." Rin said and went back to eating.

"Well, you were gone for about an hour or more so I just thought I'd ask."

"I was walking around Funbari. Very intresting place."

"At 8:00 at night?"

"Sure, most spirits start to come out at that time anyway. You should go sometime."

Yoh smiled and went back to eating.

**There's chapter 4 for ya'. I hoped you liked it. **

**PLEASE REVIEW! I'M DYING HERE!**

**-Jai Akari**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow! Thank you to all who reviewed! It puts me in high spirits! **

**s91- Thank you for all the reviews. That is the first time someone has reviewed more than once on one of my stories. I'm so glad you like it. I did not know that the story editor could put seperation lines in. I tried it while submitting this chapter, but it did not work. Maybe I'm doing something wrong...? Yeah, OC fics that are solely based around getting into a canon character's pants are increasing (from my POV). I can't even find a Horo fic that does not have yaoi in it! Well, that's not _entirely_ true, but I think you know what I'm talking about.**

**Sorry for the long update on chapter 4. My computer was running slower than normal and the document manager would not upload my chapter. But it finally did. Also, I failed to mention this before, but everyones age has been upped. I realized my mistake too late with Rin's age so I upped everyone's age to 15.**

**Momo, your wait is over: Ren will be in this chapter. I know how much you like Ren. Here he is.**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 5

Weeks had passed and Yoh had fought his last preliminary fight with Tao Ren, making his final prelim fight outcome one win, one loss, and a draw. Rin had also finished all three of her fights making it two wins in a row. (She did not have to fight a third fight since she was already qualified for the main fight.)

Everyone now knew that Rin was a shaman, but still did not know her real name yet, courtesy of Anna. Tao Ren was at Funbari Inn that night. Rin did not take an instant liking to the Chinese shaman. She saw similarities beteween them, like, for example, they both grew up on homes cut off from the rest of the world. But Ren knew more about the outside world than Rin did. But besides that, Rin saw an arrogant shaman.

"Why are you here Ren?" Manta asked nervously.

"I'm only here because that halfwit dragged me here." Ren replied.

"Come on Ren." Horohoro said. "At least you don't have to pay for a hotel."

"Well, unlike _you_, I had lodgings."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"It means you're an idiot."

"That makes no sense Tao." Rin said.

"It makes perfect sense."

"No, I don't think so."

"Key word: _think_."

Rin: angry vein mark.

"_Sniff._ I've never seen Bocchama enjoy himself so much!" Bason said. "It does my heart good!"

"What do you mean 'enjoying himself'?" Amidamaru asked.

"Bocchama's smile is subtle. He's never had anyone to talk to, but now he has friends in which he can share a common succssus. It's good to have friends."

"Yes." Amidamaru agreed.

Interrupting the arguing beteween some of the shamans, Tamao announced with her Kokkuri board that the hotsprings were ready. So as the night at Funbari Inn wore on, everyone got to know each other a little better. Ren stayed the night and stayed all the next day.

"So you're leaving already Ren? You're welcome to stay another night." Yoh said sitting down on the edge of the porch as Ren mounted his horse preparing to leave.

"I can't slack off endlessly like you. I only stayed here last night out of curiosity." Ren said.

"So you're going back to China, huh?"

"I have some things to take care of. Don't worry about me. There is still one goal that I have."

"What's that?"

"Yoh, you are the only one who has ever defeated me. But I swear that I will beat you one day. Next time, my soul will be stronger than your's. I will meet you in the shaman fight. Until that time, stay well."

"You too."

With that, Ren rode off and Yoh went inside.

"So I guess spike-head left." Ren said to Yoh as he came inside to the main sitting room.

"Yeah, he's going back home to China. He said that he has some things to take care of." Yoh said.

"I don't care where he is as long as he's not around me. I get a headache everytime he is around."

"Come on Rin. He's not that bad. I think that you just don't like him because he called Horohoro an idiot."

"I _don't_ see how not having lodgings makes someone an idiot. Horo is just trying to save money." Rin said getting a bit defensive.

"Think that you like him." Yoh said smiling.

"What? Like who? Tao?"

"No...Horohoro." Yoh matter-of-factly.

"Of course I like him. He's my friend. It would be kinda hard to be someone's friend if you didn't like them." Rin said slightly blushing.

She was so glad that everyone was asleep, especailly Horohoro, and they could not hear this conversation.

"I mean you like him as more than a friend. See? You're blushing!"

"Why are we even having this conversation? I'm going to bed. Oyasuminasai! (Goodnight)" Rin said as she ran out of the room totally embarassed for the first time in her life.

Where Rin's room was located in the inn, you could look out the window at the stars without being blocked by trees. That's where Rin was after the little conversation with Yoh. The night sky was filled with millions of stars that twinkled happily and Rin felt at peace whenever she looked at the night sky.

_Perhaps Yoh is right..._

The next day...

"One hour in the electric chair for everyone!" Anna yelled.

"WHAT!"

"Ten hours for whoever just said that!"

Meanwhile, Ren was on a train leaving Beijing.

"We now bid Beijing farewell. Guizhou lies 38 hours from here by a series of trains. From there, it is two days on horseback to Mt. Jiaoshan. The time has come for us to go home." Bason said. "Master Ren...Master?"

"Be quiet Bason. Don't talk to me."

"Little boy...you will scare happiness away with a sour face like that. Perhaps a steamed sweet bun will cheer you up." said an old woman who was sittin in the seat across from Ren.

_What? A sweet bun! _Ren thought suprised.

"No, master, please do not harm the pesants! You are in a bad mood!" Bason desprately said.

Ren reachen out, took the sweet bun, and stuffed it into his mouth. The old woman smiled happily at Ren, pleased that he took the bun.

"This is pretty good. I now feel warm inside. I think that I will go outside to get some fresh air." Ren said as he stood up and left his seat to stand outside.

"Master Ren, I cannot understand what goes through your head at times: you were in a foul mood, yet you took the sweet bun."

"People arn't so bad Bason. They can be kind and generous. I hated all humanity and wanted to become shaman king to destroy them all. But now I realize that people arn't so bad after all. Asakura made me see that." Ren said

"Master..."

"But I killed so many people before I was able to realize that. Not even with my own death will I ever atone for my sins. So I thought, 'What can I do instead? What if I could change the world by bringing an end to the cycle of hate?' A goal like this would be worth dying for."

"'Worth dying for'?"

"That snack helped solidfy my desision. I now have a new reason to become shaman king. But before that happens...I have some unfinished business to take care of first."

"By that you mean..."

"I'm going to overthrow my father. The source of all my hatred."

Back at the inn, the tourturus electric chair was being overseen by Anna who was holding a bamboo sword to punish anyone who tried to rest.

"Did you just feel something?" asked Yoh.

"I just felt something really bad." Ryu said.

"I just felt my legs go numb." said Rin.

"Some of us are trying to do the electric chair here!" Horohoro said through gritted teeth.

"I think I know what it was." Yoh said.

At that moment, Bason appeared.

"Lord Yoh! Please! I beg of you! Please save Master Ren!"

**Cliffhanger! You know, I just noticed something: Funbari Inn is called Flame Inn in the manga, and it was destroyed by a fire. Ironic isn't it? I don't know if Hiroyuki Takei did that deliberately or not, but here are some of his ironics (is that even a word?): **

**Lyserg Diethel's name is taken from LSD**

**Morphine taken from (duh) morphine**

**Mic Jaguar-Mic Jagger**

**Li Bailong-Bruce Lee (write down a comparison of the two. It's pretty cool)**

**Faust VIII-Dr. Faust. But in the manga Faust VIII is Faust's decendant.**

**I think that there is some more but I don't know. Isn't his writing style great? There was a lot of bookverse in this chapter. Some of which has been altered to better fit the story.**

**R&R -Jai Akari**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 up & running! I think that if you read the Shaman King manga, last chapter was predictable and was not necessarily a cliffhanger. I hope that this chapter is not as predictable. I am now writing this on Microsoft Word since Fanfiction does not support things like asterisks on WordPad. This will be much easier for me.**

**Sorry for the long update time. I was on vacation.**

**Thank you to all who reviewed!**

Pretty in Black 

Chapter 6

"So let me get this straight: Ren went back home to China to overthrow his father, but failed miserably and was put in the family dungeons, and you want us to rescue him." Rin said.

"Yes. I knew that all of you would be my master's only hope." Bason said.

"Ren's our friend, of course we'll help." Yoh said.

"I've always wanted to see China." Manta said.

A few days later on a raft somewhere in China… 

"This is so boring!" Horohoro complained. "There's nothing to do!"

Currently, Yoh, Manta, Ryu, Horohoro and Rin were traveling down a river on a raft in order to get to Ren's home and rescue him, and soon found a very bored Horohoro on their hands. This was making Ryu a little irritated.

"If your bored, then why don't you see if you can catch a fish with your bare hands." Ryu said.

"I'm Ainu, not stupid! You can't catch a fish with your bare hands!" said Horohoro.

"I suppose you could if you tried." Rin said running the top of her hand through the water.

"It's impossible. I've tried it numerous times when I was little and failed. Even as a fully trained shaman it's impossible. The only way it would work was if you used Oversoul, or were a shaman with a fish spirit."

"Whatever. I bet you're just saying that because you know you aren't strong enough to keep a hold on the fish when you did catch it."

"What! I'm strong! I'm stronger that you!"

"Yeah right. Look at the score: Yoh-1 win, 1 loss, 1 draw. Me: 3 wins You: 2 wins, 1 loss. Rin: 2 wins."

"So? I have the same number of wins as Rin."

"I only fought two fights. There was no one else left for me to fight so I was automatically sent to the next round." Rin said turning her attention away from the water.

"Oh, well, that still doesn't prove anything!"

"Yoh." Rin said. "I think it's about time you intervened."

A few days later, Yoh and company finally reached their destination.

"This is Ren's house?" Yoh asked amazed.

"Look at the landscape!" Horohoro said looking around. "Hokkaido can't even match!"

"Ren's home is beautiful." Said Rin.

"Lord Yoh!" Amidamaru said approaching the group in spirit ball form along with Tokagero, also in spirit ball form.

"We scouted out the castle and there was not a soul in sight!"

"Not even an insect!" Tokagero added.

"This is very strange." Said Bason. " Yuan is extremely cautious. There is no doubt that he knows that we are here."

"Maybe he's taking a nap. I always do around this time of day." Said Yoh.

"I highly doubt that Yoh." Rin said.

"Be that as it may. But nevertheless, we must be on our guard. We are about to enter the domain of the Tao."

Meanwhile, Yuan was watching the group on a screen in his throne room.

"That traitor Bason is working hard. He worked equally hard when he was commander of our calvary. He led our enemies right to our doorstep, quite literally."

Yuan stopped and watched the group some more.

"I guess I should arrange a welcome party for them." He said as he pointed a finger at a locked case. "Come alive, Five-Curse Squad!" he said and the lock broke opening the cases doors revealing five, specially modified Kyonshi.

"Go and welcome our guests."

* * *

Ryu and Horohoro pushed the enormous doors to the main hall open and everyone stepped inside.

"Man, this place is creepy." Said Horohoro. "Are those bones on the floor?"

"It wouldn't be anything else." Manta said. "Wait, what am I doing here? I can't fight!"

"Manta, you just stay where Bason tells you to stay and you'll be safe." Yoh said.

"Yuan is on the very top floor. Master Ren and Lady Jun are two levels below us. If all goes well, we should be able to quickly find the cells they are in and get them out. Bailong is also with them, but he has been dismantled."

"Dismantled?" Rin asked curiously.

"Bailong is a Kyonshi."

"Oh."

* * *

"Jun…how long have I been down in this hole?" Ren asked.

Currently, he was chained to a dragon-shaped torture- chair thing and totally beat up. Jun was in the cell across from him sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chin. Her hair was down, her dress tattered and dirty.

"Ten days. I haven't had a bath for twenty." She answered

"Ten days. No wonder the pain is starting to lessen."

"I hope you realize that you wouldn't be in pain if you hadn't been so rash in the first place. Father is too strong." She stopped for a while and finally said, "I think I know how we can get out of here."

"How?"

"We can tell father that we had a change of heart, that we now see that he was right all along and we were wrong."

"I refuse to do that. I would rather die in this cell."

"But Ren! We wouldn't mean it! Once we gain his trust and are free we could run away and never come back to this place. Start a new life somewhere else far away."

"Jun, it wouldn't work. You know as well as I do that if we ran away he would just sent out kyonshi to bring us back and we would have to relive the torture all over again."

"I know. I just wanted us to have a moment of hope. Our father is a demon."

"No…he's not. If he were then only shaman would be able to see him. There is some secret to his power."

"But we will never be able to find the answer to the mystery locked up down here."

" 'It'll work out.' That's what he always says. 'It'll work out.'"

"Ren…"

* * *

"What is this? They are zombies, but they have animal parts, and this one has machine guns and rockets. Only one actually looks normal!" Horohoro said.

He was carrying Ryu and Yoh on his shoulders after saving them from an attack from the Five-Curse Squad. Ryu was unconscious because the zombie with cheetah legs cold-cocked him. Everyone had their Oversouls engaged readying themselves for another attack.

Horohoro set Yoh and Ryu down and attached his snowboard to his arm.

"Ryu, are you alright?" Rin asked shaking him trying to wake him up.

"He'll be okay Rin." Yoh said. "Just focus on defeating these 'Five-Curse Squad' zombies."

"Yeah. These toys are no match for us." Horohoro said.

"Toys! I'll teach you to call us toys!" The elephant-legged kyonshi said jumping up in attempt to smash Horohoro flat.

"Give me a break…elephants can't jump." Said Horohoro giving the kyonshi an icy glare freezing him in the process. "Nipopo Punch!" he yelled as he made a Nipopo shaped Oversoul on his arm over the snowboard and punched the elephant kyonshi to pieces.

Everyone was busy trying to fight off the other three kyonshi (the fifth one was just standing on the balcony) and did not notice Ryu start to move some.

Rin was across the room doing her best in fighting the kyonshi and saw the cheetah-legged kyonshi start to attack Horohoro who seemed oblivious to what was behind him.

When he did turn around he saw a black bolt slice the zombie in half.

"You need to pay more attention to your surroundings Horo." Rin yelled from across the room.

"Thanks Rin!" Horohoro yelled back smiling.

Rin smiled back only to have two snakes wrap around her deactivating her Oversoul. One was wrapped around her chest and the other was wrapped around her neck. Both were squeezing hard cutting off her breathing. She tried unsuccessfully to pry the snakes off.

"Rin!" Horohoro yelled.

Rin, unable to breathe, dropped her beads and shut her eyes.

**Cliffhanger! I decided to be an evil authoress and leave you hanging with a real cliffhanger.**

**I will be in band camp for the next 3 or so weeks preparing for our field show starting tomorrow, then a while after that school starts, so I will not have very much writing time and updates will be spaced farther apart. During that time, I will write and update when I find both physical and mental strength to be able to. I will only have weekends off. For anyone who has ever endured and survived band camp, you know what I am talking about and will understand the situation.**

**REVIEW**

**-Jai Akari**


	7. Chapter 7

**Band camp is finally over! It is rather difficult to type properly with an injured right hand (curse those triple rifle tosses). Actually, BC has been over since Tuesday, and I have** **been lazy in finishing this chapter. Thank you to all who reviewed, no matter what chapter it was on.**

sakura mae su

kari tao (ren's little sister)

MyPinkLibra

**All of my work is now copyrighted.**

Pretty in Black Chapter 7 

_I don't want to die like this._ Rin thought as a tear slipped down her cheek._ I wanted to die a natural death surrounded by the ones I love. Oh well, I guess we can't have everything we want._

"Hell Crimson Lizard!" someone yelled and Rin felt the kyonshi's grip on her loosen. She gasped, pulling life-giving air into her lungs, and sunk to her knees. After finally catching her breath he looked behind her only to see Ryu.

"Ryu? I thought you were…I mean, you took a clean blow to the head with a sword." Rin choked out.

"That was nothing. I'm used to taking a serious beating. I was just caught by surprise. But I'm really mad because that Jiang-si split my ultra-heartful pompadour!" Ryu said, clearly unhappy.

"Yoh you run ahead and save Ren. We'll take care of the last two kyonshi." Said Horohoro.

"Yeah." Rin said standing up and retrieving her beads.

"Okay. You all be careful." Yoh said and he ran out of the room.

"Rin, are you sure you're up to this? You still seem out of breath. Maybe you should have gone with Yoh. You can still catch up to him." Horohoro said.

'I'm fine. I'll make sure Manta gets in a safe place." She looked around for Manta and found him hiding behind a large vase. "Never mind, he's already there."

"Alright, lets go!" Ryu said.

"Heh…Bason did this without my knowledge. Now you get to see me in an embarrassing position. I don't know what your doing here, but I'm really amazed that you made it that far Yoh." Said Ren, giving an amused smile.

"Well, you know me. I hang with a pretty tough crowd. Now, lets get you two out of here."

"Hell Crimson Lizard!"

"Nipopo Punch!"

"Yami no Yari!"

All attacks went out but did not hit their target. The remaining kyonshi were too fast. Th one with machine guns and rockets attacked after dodging their attacks.

"Ryu! Horo! Take cover under this shield!" Rin said and created an energy shield to protect the three of them with. Much to her frustration, the machine zombie would not stop attacking the shield and in the process, depleting her mana.

"Ryu, Horo…can you do me a favor?"

"What?" they asked together.

"If this zombie is going to keep attacking, I'm going to be out of mana and won't be able to fight, so I'm going to deactivate the shield. When it's gone, I want you to immediately attack the zombie. Hopefully, you will destroy it. I don't know if I will be able to attack with you. Ready?"

"Ready."

"Now!"

Rin deactivated the shield and attacked, destroying the kyonshi.

"One down, one to go." Horohoro said.

"This will be a piece of cake." Ryu added.

"You're right. He's outmatched 3 to 1." Rin also added. The kyonshi just laughed.

"You delusional fools. You cannot defeat me for you are not strong enough. I will crush all three of you like insects."

"Yeah! Well we'll defeat you so fast that it will make your head spin! Nipopo Punch!"

The kyonshi laughed again and counterattacked causing Horohoro to hit the wall with such a violent force, it cracked the wall and knocked him unconscious. Rin and Ryu then attacked but ended with the same results. Rin was thrown across the room and Ryu was caught in the kyonshi's grasp.

OOO

CHA-CHANK!

Yoh released Jun from her cell and then released Ren. Ren just sat on the ground rubbing his wrists not saying anything.

"You alright Ren?" Yoh asked. Ren seemed surprised by this question.

"Of course. Who do you think your talking to? I'm not some weakling." Jun smiled at this comment.

"Yoh, I want to thank you. I never dreamed that you would come all this way to save us. I was thinking of ways to escape…all of them foolish fantasies I'm afraid." Jun said

"It's alright, it was no problem. We had better get you both out of here."

"No." Ren said.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Yoh asked.

"I came here to defeat Yuan, and I'm not going anywhere until I reach my goal. I'm going to go straight to the top floor. You've done what you've been came here to do so you can leave." Ren said and he started to leave the cell.

"Ren! Don't be stupid!" Yoh called after him. "You were in here because you weren't able to defeat your father! What chance do you have in your current condition? Live today, fight tomorrow."

"You don't understand Yoh." Ren said. "I don't have the strength to live as a loser. If I left, then Yuan would only send kyonshi after me to bring me back here. It is pointless to leave, and then come back again. It is better to get this over with now than later. Still, I thank you for freeing Jun and I."

"But you've seen how powerful father is! You can't defeat him in your current condition." Jun said trying to get Ren to change his mind.

"Oh well." Yoh said. "That's Ren. Once his mind is made up, there's no changing it. I've come this far, I might as well stick around."

OOO

"Ren's challenging me again. He'll never learn. That Yoh Asakura is a bad influence. He won't leave here alive, for this place holds many dangers unknown to him." Yuan said as he sat watching Ren, Yoh and Jun. He laughed silently to himself.

"Ren, wait up. Slow down, you're tired. Yoh said panting as he ran after Ren.

"I'm tired? You're the one who's panting. Why are you following me?"

"I said I'd fight with you." Said Yoh, not really answering Ren's question.

"Mind your own business. If you're smart, then you'll go back to Japan."

"If I did, then you would be lonely."

"I would not be lonely! You'll just get in the way. You're abnormally excessive optimism won't save you from Yuan."

"You make your father sound like a monster. Bason told us what happened, but how can any father be that bad?"

"Look, it's not that I hate Yuan Yoh, I came here to defeat the hatred in me. Yuan carved this tattoo into me, and force-fed me the family philosophy since before I could walk. I don't hate him for it; I hate myself for believing it and killing so many people. I'm going to conquer my old self by defeating the man who scarred me. I'm fighting for myself. I cannot let you die because of my selfish cause." Ren said as he retrieved his kwan dao from the wall.

"Ren…" Yoh smiled and put an arm around Ren's shoulders. "It'll all work out. I came here because I didn't want you to die. Let's go forward together. Who knows what we can do until we try?"

Ren looked to his left and his eyes widened. "Yoh…"

"My, aren't we friendly?" Shackler laughed. "But this is restricted area."

"If you try to pass, we will rip you to pieces." Flogger added.

"Who are these guys?" Yoh asked.

"They are the jiang-si who captured Jun." Ren answered.

"That's right. Flogger and I are the guardians of the dungeons. If anyone tries to escape, we torture 'em good."

"I have no problem with torture, as long as I'm the one doing it." Ren said, obviously mocking the Torture Brothers.

"Brat! We'll tear you to pieces!" The Torture Brothers screamed as they ran to attack Ren.

"Yoh, you can do what you want as long as you don't get in my way." Ren said to Yoh.

"Alright." Yoh said and he and Ren attacked, destroying Flogger and Shackler.

"Let's go." Yoh said. "Ryu, Horohoro, and Rin are waiting upstairs. We'll bust our way through to the top floor!"

A short while later, Ren and Yoh reached the main hall. All was quiet and they assumed that Rin, Horohoro, and Ryu were just resting from their fight with the Five-Curse Squad.

"From the main hall there is a direct path to the top floor. Be warned: Yuan is incredibly powerful and brutal. Are you prepared for this encounter Yoh?"

"Yup."

"Good. Lets go."

They opened the great double doors to the main hall only to see a white-clothed kyonshi holding Ryu up by the throat.

"You are not going anywhere, because I will reduce all of you to corpses." It said menacingly.

"Rin! Ryu! Horohoro!"

"They were careless. Just like you two."

"What! How did he get behind us that fast?" Yoh asked, surprised.

"Die." The kyonshi said. "Huo Jian Jiao! Rocket Kick!"

"Rocket Kick? But that's…" said Ren, but he did not have enough time to complete his sentence for the kyonshi attacked again.

"Zhou Shi Dao Jiao! Icbm Kick!"

"These are Bailong's Dao Dan Do moves!" Ren said completing his sentence.

"If these are Bailong's Dao Dan Do moves, then why is he stronger? Who is he?" Yoh asked while dodging the attack.

"Wh-who else?" a small, scared voice said. It was Manta, who was still hiding behind the vase. "The only master of Dao Dan Do is Bailong."

"Then who _is_ he?" Ren asked starting to get annoyed by Manta's indirect answers.

"The master of Rui-Chong Quan Kung Fu—the basis of Dao Dan Do, Bailong's teacher: Sha-wen."

"Sha-wen? It can't be him! This jiang-si's body is young and strong. Sha-wen was 96 years old when he died." Yoh said.

"The Five-Curse Squad was created be specially modifying the best corpses. Yuan does not hesitate to kill the old to fulfill his needs. He put Sha-wen's soul into a young body. Apparently, the first four jiang-si were used to make you over-confident, then Sha-wen could come along to finish you off." explained Ren.

"Bocchama is quick. I am indeed Sha-wen!" Sha-wen said ripping off his mask. "Now I will kill you." He quickly got behind Yoh and moved to attack but was quickly blocked by Bailong.

"Master Yuan destroyed you! He tore you to pieces!" Sha-wen said.

"I sewed him back up." Jun said, appearing in the doorway. "I'm glad that I made it in time. I don't want to imagine what might have happened if I did not."

"Lady Jun. I see that you are up to no good again. You should behave yourself if you don't want master Yuan to punish you again." Sha-wen said.

"It was probably just wishful thinking, but I had hoped that I would be able to live my life without ever having to fight anyone again. I realize now that there are enemies in the world that must be defeated."

Sha-wen just laughed. " You must be mistaken."

Jun put her hair up in it's usual style and said, "Oh no, I'm not mistaken. You see…" she held up her O-fuda, "I've made up my mind."

"Yu-Zhou-Zhan Luo Xia! Satellite Drop!" Bailong exclaimed, attacking and destroying Sha-wen.

"Heartless people don't deserve to live. Even if they are soulless corpses." Jun said coldly. "Come on. Let's go."

"Jun seems…really mad." Ren said surprised.

Yoh and Manta roused Horohoro, Rin and Ryu, and they stood up shakily.

"Ouch…my head hurts." Horohoro said.

"Idiot." Ren muttered.

OOO

"Now Jun has turned against me." Yuan said, deeply displeased. "If that is your Tao, then I shall demonstrate my own."

**A lot if book verse in this chappie. Most of it modified so it will not be exactly like the book. I would have put in verses from the anime, but I do not remember what was said.**

**The line seperator was not working for this chapter so I am reduced to puttin the OOO's back in for now.**

**REVIEW! POR FAVORE!**

**-Jai Akari**

**Copyright 2006 Jai Akari**


	8. Chapter 8

**Ren, Rin…Rin, Ren.**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 8

Yoh, Rin, Manta, Ren, Jun, Bailong, Horohoro and Ryu were walking down a corridor to Yuan's throne room. Horohoro, Rin and Ryu were not necessarily feeling well after being thrown around, courtesy of Sha-wen. Ryu's head had just stopped bleeding, and Rin and Horohoro were recovering from being smacked against the wall.

"My head is spinning." Horohoro said. "I can't believe that I was thrown around like that."

"I know. It was crazy. Who knew that someone, even a dead person could be that strong?" Rin said. "That was the toughest opponent I've ever faced. Who was that guy anyway? I remember picking up part of the battle while I was trying to fight off the urge to drift off into unconsciousness."

"That was Sha-wen. Bailong's teacher." Manta said.

"Oh. Well, to be honest, I don't know who that is, but I think that I am happy not knowing. Ugh, I have not had a headache this bad in years." Rin groaned, holding her head in her hands.

"It's no surprise, after the beating we took. Man, look at this place: bones everywhere. How can any sensible person live in such a place?" Ryu said looking around.

Ren and Jun stopped and looked back at him.

"Ryu! Be careful about what you say!" Manta and Rin rapidly said.

"Sorry!"

"It's alright." Ren said. "I've often wondered that myself." He paused. "All right, we're at the top floor, and almost to the throne room. Again, this is my personal battle. If you all don't want to get injured in some way I recommend that you leave now."

"You've become such a weakling in the time that you have been away Ren!" a voice said. "Such consideration for your friends." Then out of the blue, Yuan came crashing down from…somewhere. "I realize that you all have helped Ren in countless ways. I'm extremely dissatisfied."

"He's huge!" Horohoro said.

"Look at that mustache!" Yoh exclaimed.

"Most people would be happy if we helped their children like we have helped Ren." Rin said.

"Yuan is not just any 'people'." Ren retorted.

"So you still refuse to call me 'father' Ren?" Yuan said in fake sorrow. "Perhaps you need to be punished again." He pointed a finger at the group, causing a bomb effect, and causing everyone to trigger their Oversouls; except Manta, who ran to a place out of the line of fire.

Horohoro and Ryu attacked Yuan, whose arms fell off leaving bloody stumps.

"His arms just broke off? That was a too simple if you ask me." Ryu said.

Yuan laughed as his arms suddenly grew back.

"Whoa! That's creepy!" Horohoro exclaimed.

"That's disgusting!" Rin said covering her mouth with her hand.

"You hesitated to kill another human. That is why you're attack failed. That, and you are not strong enough to defeat me." Said Yuan, who then flicked the two shamans out of the way.

"I told them not to interfere!" Ren said angrily as he started to run over to them.

"Your mind has become weak! Your still caring for your friends!" Yuan said as he drew back his hand to attack Ren. "Your caring has left your defenses wide open!"

Suddenly, Bailong's foot pierced Yuan's head in a spray of blood.

"Yuan, I don't see you as anything now. Not a father, a human being, not anything. So I'm afraid that I'm going to have to smash that thick skull of yours." Jun said.

"You're like the others." Yuan said turning to look at Jun. "You hesitated to kill another human and you still can't strike without making pronouncements. Your wretched little jiang-si is no match for me."

He took Bailong in his vast hand and violently threw him into the wall behind him.

Manta was on the floor trembling. "Is he immortal? He lost both of his arms, but they grew back and he took a kick to the head which should have killed him!"

"No one is immortal!" Ren said stimulating his Oversoul. He jumped up and attacked Yuan, who suddenly ended up behind him.

_Crap! He got behind me again! _Ren thought._ What's his secret? Super speed? Afterimage? Illusion? The only way to find out is to attack._

"Everyone has their own path to follow." Yuan said. "But the weak fear it, so they waver and go astray."

"Keep talking you unguarded fool!" Ren yelled at the top of his lungs. "Golden Vorpal Dance!"

Ren attacked Yuan, cutting his top half into pieces.

"Those who stray from their path can never master their Tao. It is so ridiculous that you call these creatures your friends. Everyone's path is different; no two are the same. The more people waver, the more they wander from their path. I've done all that I can. If you still don't understand, you may as well die."

One of Yuan's detached arms hurled itself towards Ren.

"Ren!" Jun screamed.

Yoh and Rin jumped up and blocked the arm with their Oversouls.

"Yoh! Rin!" Ren said in surprise.

"We won't let you kill Ren." Rin said. "You may be his father, but if we have to we'll kill you first before you kill Ren."

"That's right." Yoh said. "We'll do everything we can to protect Ren."

"Yoh and Rin is it? You two were not listening to what I have been saying, so I shall repeat myself: CONCERN FOR YOUR FRIENDS DIVERTS YOU FROM YOUR PATH!" Yuan said irritably as he smashed Rin and Yoh into pillars, probably cracking a few bones in the process.

"Your rebellion is over Ren." Yuan said. "All the friends that you brought with you have fallen. You will do as I command and follow the path that the Tao family has set for you. You are still weak in mind and body."

_This massacre is all my fault._ Ren thought as he looked around at his fallen friends. "Your right. I am weak." Ren said to his father.

Yuan smiled at this and said, "That's all that I wanted to hear! You will still have to be punished but…"

Ren cut him off and said, "But I am weak because I'm fighting you." Ren then disengaged his Oversoul.

"I told you that we wouldn't let you kill Ren." Rin said getting up.

"That's why we came to China in the first place." Horohoro said also getting up.

Yuan watched, as everyone he thought was dead get up and congregate around Ren.

_Why are they getting up? Why do they still resist me? Don't they fear me? _Yuan thought. "Why do you sacrifice yourselves for other people? How can you believe in other's like that?"

"Look at yourself Yuan, you're losing your self-control, and that, promises my victory." Ren said. "Yuan, you're not immortal. Your human like the rest of us."

Angry now, Yuan attacked Ren.

"Ren! Activate your Oversoul!" Jun screamed desperately.

Ren didn't move and showed no sign of activating his Oversoul. When Yuan's fist finally reached him, the unexpected happened: Yuan's arm became translucent.

"His arm is translucent!" Manta said in disbelief.

"He's an Oversoul." Rin said in final awareness.

"An Oversoul?"

"A shaman materializes a ghost with his mana, and mana is produced from willpower. When it fades, the Oversoul becomes less ample." She explained.

"You mean…?" Jun began to ask.

"Yes. We always tensed up when we were in his presence, so we never realized that he was an Oversoul. Just relax and close your spiritual eye and you can see him. That is our real father." Said Ren.

Instead of a giant man with a crazy moustache, everyone saw a normal looking man with a crazy moustache.

"I can't believe it." Jun said. "The father we've always known was an illusion."

"Hey, without that oversized Oversoul, he actually looks normal." Yoh said.

"I knew that there was something odd going on." Horohoro said.

"Yeah, I mean, how can anyone be that gigantic?" Ryu asked.

"He's far from normal." Ren said, not taking his eyes off his father. "He has preserved that Oversoul for decades. That would require huge amounts of mana, and he was even so distrustful that he deceived his own children!"

"You did well to see through me. I did not deceive you, nor have I faltered. I was just taken a bit off guard." Yuan said matter-of-factly.

"That's faltering!" "Come on!" "Admit it!" Yoh and Co. said.

"How can I falter? I know the truth: humans are miserable creatures beyond all salvation! Look."

Yuan took off his top robe and let it fall to the ground, revealing mortuary tablets strapped all over his body. Then all of a sudden, thousands of spirit flames surrounded him.

"These are our ancestors, the custodians of our family's 2,000 year history."

"Look at all those spirit flames!" Yoh said.

"My Oversoul, Da Dao Wang, the Great Tao King, is a cumulative of their souls. As head of the Tao family, I must keep them with me always and carry out their will."

_It sounds a bit like my family._ Rin thought sadly. But she shook that thought away reminding her that she had no family; that they had all abandoned her. _I'll bring them back and have everything the way it used to be before everything went wrong when I become Shaman Queen._

Upon returning to the real world from her thoughts, Rin managed to catch the last of Yuan's words.

"…we were feared, betrayed and persecuted!" Yuan said angrily. "So if you want to cut the ties to your family then go ahead. I won't stop you. But first you must show me your resolve! Da Dao Long!"

All of the Tao spirit flames came together to form a great, long dragon with the Great Tao King's head above Yuan.

"Great Vorpal Spiral!"

"This isn't about family or friends. I'm not going to succumb to anyone. I will choose my own path and decide things for myself. Wo Bu Mi." Ren said, powering up his Oversoul with all his mana.

He then ran and collided with the Great Tao Dragon. Blood sprayed from the dragon's head and splattered on the floor and walls. The dragon then split back into the thousands of spirit flames it originally came from.

"It dematerialized!" Rin said. "Did Ren win?"

It was a terrible silence before anyone dared to speak or move to see if Yuan had given up after Ren's attack or not. Then that eerie silence was broken when Yuan pulled back his sword and said,

"I'm still alive! You have not defeated me yet!"

But he was stopped by the sound of a gun hammer being pulled back.

"That's enough Yuan." A man's voice said. "The moment your convictions wavered, you were defeated. If you don't recognize that, then die."

"Your being dead won't accomplish anything, dear." A woman's voice also said.

Everyone looked to see an elderly man and a middle-aged woman standing some distance from Yuan. The old man was short, bald, was wearing black and yellow robes with a Yin Yang symbol on the back. In his hands, he held two pistols; one of them was pointed at Yuan.

The woman was tall, slender and graceful looking. Her hair was up in buns on both sides of her head, she wore elaborate robes with Yin Yang symbols in numerous places. In her hand she held a fan.

"Mother! Grandfather Zhen!" Jun said in surprise.

OOO

A while later, Yoh and Co. found themselves in a large dining room. In front of them was a large, round table with all sorts of Chinese food on it and a suckling pig in the middle. (A/N: Yeah, you know, those pigs w/ the apple in their mouths?)

"Well Horo, you said you wanted to have some Chinese food. It looks like your wish came true." Rin whispered to Horohoro. Horohoro smiled at this thought. Orikir came out of his memorial tablet and perched on Rin's shoulder to get a better look at his surroundings.

"Well, yeah, but I didn't think that I would be eating at Ren's house!"

"What's going on?" Manta asked. "We were fighting Yuan, then Ren's mother and grandfather showed up and stopped it, then invited us to dinner!"

Ran, Ren and Jun's mother, laughed and said, "Your our guests. Please sit and eat."

"Yeah, but can we trust you?" Horohoro asked suspiciously. "I mean, that pigs probably gonna get up and attack us!"

"Oh come now, that's not poisonous either." Ran laughed.

"Why are you being so nice? Aren't you the bad guys?" Yoh asked.

"Well, it's true that we have killed many people for the sake of our family. I suppose that people nowadays would consider that evil. Anyway, I am impressed with you all: you came to Ren's aid and survived Yuan's wrath. We were afraid that Ren would never make any friends."

"You had better be impressed after all the crap we went through: being smashed into walls and floors and thrown across rooms!" Orikir said. "That said, when's food? I'm hungry!"

"Orikir!" Rin hissed at the bird, hoping that the old man would shrug off that comment.

"You have one rude spirit ally, young lady. He had better watch himself. I am excusing that comment for now, but there are some who would not hesitate to attack you after a comment like that is made to them." Zhen said with a murderous glint in his eye.

"Yes," Rin said casting the bird a death glare. "He can be very rude. I apologize for him." Orikir returned the death glare. He obviously had no intention of apologizing and did not like the fact that Rin apologized for him.

"As I was saying, "Yes, I am impressed that you survived Yuan, and most people _would _consider what we do evil, but good and evil, light and darkness, beauty and ugliness has no meaning without the other." Zhen paused then continued.

"Poor Yuan. He became so obsessed with our family honor and his Tao he lost sight of the true path. The narrow-minded cannot embody a great spirit. That's why Ren won. His Tao was purer than Yuan's"

"Ptah." Ren spat. "I won because I was stronger."

"Believe what you want, foolish boy." Zhen laughed.

"Well, my business here is done. I'll be going now." Ren said pulling on his coat.

"What!" everybody asked, following Ren out of the room.

"What about food?" Orikir asked.

OOO

"Ren, can't you stay a bit longer?"

"No, because it will take me a whole week to get back to Japan from here." Ren said mounting his horse.

"You're just taking off? We just saved your skin!" Horohoro said accusingly.

"I didn't ask for your help. You shouldn't have any problem getting back to Japan on your own."

"You are so ungrateful Ren." Rin said crossing her arms.

"Whatever."

Rin: angry vein mark.

"You may use our jiang-si horses if you so desire." Ran said.

"Uh, no thank you!" Horohoro stuttered.

"We had better get going. The shaman tournament is about to begin."

OOO

Yoh, Ryu, Horohoro and Rin got off a boat and got onto a bus headed back to Beijing. A few hours into the trip, Yoh was asleep, Manta sat beside him reading his Mantannian dictionary, Rin, Horohoro and Ryu sat in the seat behind them. Rin sat next to the window, Horohoro sat next to her and Ryu sat next to him flirting with some Chinese girl who seemed freaked out by him.

_At least she doesn't live with him._ Horohoro and Rin thought.

OOO

"What do you want? Are you looking for another fight?"

Ren was riding fast on his horse and Yuan was following him on the Great Tao Dragon. Yuan did not answer Ren's question. Instead, he threw Ren a sword hilt, who caught it in surprise.

"This is the Bao-Lei sword."

"Yes. It's our family's most precious heirloom. It will open a path to your future. Good luck Ren."

"I'll be alright. I swear by these boundless lands."

OOO

**Momo-chan, I have made this chapter as bloody as I could just for you!**

**Note: I sometimes refer to Yoh and everybody with him as "Yoh & Co." Kinda rhymes when you say it the wrong way. Again, I am reduced to using OOO for seperation lines.**

**Da Dao Long Great Tao Dragon. Wo Bu Mi I shall not waver. Bao-Lei Jewel Thunder**

**Review! It's not that hard! Just press the little 'go' button there and type something.**

**Copyright 2006 Jai Akari**


	9. Chapter 9

**I am terribly sorry about the update timing. There has been really bad weather, field competitions, I've been sick with a migraine and tired. I will try to write and update chapter 10 as soon as possible after this.**

**This chapter will be more Rin-centered than the past 2 chapters. I hope that everyone will stay with me through this story. I am very disappointed by how many hits I have on previous chapters (exception chapter 1).**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 9

Rin sat in her room at Funbari Inn. Tomorrow, she and the others would be leaving for Yokocha U.S Naval Base for the official start of the shaman tournament, and everyone was enjoying the last moments of their old lives.

Yoh and Manta went walking around Funbari to wherever they go when they go walking around Funbari, Horohoro and Pirika rented a hotel room to give everyone else some privacy, Ryu was at his "happy place", more specifically Funbari's Shinto shrine, Tamao was downstairs preparing dinner, and Anna was fixing Yoh's battle outfit. Rin did not feel like going out today and wanted to be alone to try and meditate for a while.

_Meditate…meditate…calm blue sea…peaceful forest…_**Ding Dong!** _…Doorbell?…_

Rin opened her eyes and got up from her seat on the floor. She went over to her window and looked out and saw a mailman leaving. She went downstairs and asked Anna whom it was for. _I don't know why I'm even asking. I know that wouldn't be for me._

"It was a package for Yoh from Master Yohmei." Anna said.

"Oh."

"Rin, stay downstairs and make yourself useful. Help Tamao with dinner if you have to."

"Yes Anna." _I was going to meditate some more. I need to be focused for tomorrow._

Rin followed Anna into the kitchen and went to where Tamao was standing.

"Tamamura-san, can I help you with anything? Anna wants me to stay down here and do something useful." Rin said.

"It's alright Akari-san. You don't have to do anything. I've got it." Tamao said shyly. (A/N: remember, only Anna knows Rin's real name.)"

Rin looked around and saw a bunch of shitake mushrooms on a cutting board waiting to be sliced. "I can slice these mushrooms so they will be ready when you need them." Rin said. She rolled up her sleeves, washed her hands, and picked up a knife.

"A-lright." Tamao said.

In the time that Rin was helping Tamao with dinner, the two got to know each other a little better. Rin learned that Tamao worked for the Asakura's and was an apprentice to Yoh's father to become an Ascetic monk. Rin told Tamao as much about herself as she dared to, not knowing that Anna was closely surveying what she said. Tamao looked at the clock on the wall and said, "Master Yoh is late. I hope that he did not get into trouble. Tomorrow is a big day for him."

"He's out loafing somewhere. He's sad that he has to leave, so he's saying goodbye to his old life." Anna said not taking her eyes off her sewing.

_At least he has something _to_ say goodbye to. _Rin thought as she sliced some ginger.

When Yoh finally came home, it was late and dinner had already been eaten. He just went straight to bed without saying a word to anyone. Anna was not happy about this and everyone, exception Yoh, who was asleep, steered clear of her until they also went to bed.

* * *

Rin changed into her sleeping robe and turned out her lights. As she lay in bed she thought about her father, mother and brother, and remembered all the times they had together. This bought tears to her eyes. _I'll bring them back, and then we'll be happy forever. _She thought as she cried herself to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, everyone awoke early. Rin dressed in her usual black kimono, only the obi was a silver-white. She gathered her belongings into a bag, put her beads around her neck, tucked Orikir's mortuary tablet into her obi, and strapped her oracle bell onto her wrist.

After everyone had eaten breakfast, they went outside and met Horohoro, Ryu and Pirika at the Inn gate. Pirika joined Anna, Tamao and Manta, while Yoh, Horohoro, Rin and Ryu gathered into a group. After a minute or two, everyone said their goodbyes and the group left for Yokocha Base.

"Can you believe that we all made it this far?" Rin happily asked, while leading Frost. (A/N: see chapter 1) "It's absolutely amazing. It's every shaman's dream."

"Totally. We're all one step closer to finding out who the next Shaman King is." Horohoro said.

"Or Queen." Rin added.

"That too."

"Hey Rin, you never told us what your goal is in the tournament." Said Yoh.

"Oh, well, I want to live comfortably without any problems of any kind!"

"That's almost like Master Yoh's goal." Ryu exclaimed.

"Yes, I know. Strange isn't it?"

"I guess we have something in common." Yoh smiled.

"Yeah, I guess so." Rin said quietly.

* * *

Upon arriving at Yokocha Base, out heroes were surprised at the sight of all the shaman. Horohoro was astonished that there was an elephant and possibly a robot, and also noted that it almost looked like a circus with all the concession stands.

"Hey! Step right up!" a voice said. Yoh and everyone looked over and saw Silva and Kalim selling, as the sign said, "Chocolate Dipped Bananas. Cheap!"

"Hi Silva!" Yoh greeted happily. Horohoro fell over anime style.

"Kalim! What are you doing?"

"Raising money for the fights. Money is always a problem for the Patch." Kalim said matter-of-factly.

"Buy something." Silva added.

Rin looked around and spotted a certain Chinese shaman that she did not necessarily take a liking to. "Ren seems to like them."

"They are pretty good." Ren said who just bought and ate a piece of an Octopus Fritter.

"You just wasted good money on an Octopus Fritter!" Horohoro exclaimed.

"Hey, that was a short-lived separation, eh suckers?" Ren said ignoring Horohoro.

"Who are you callin' suckers?"

"Hey Ren, you should've stopped by our house!" Yoh said.

"Are you _sure_ about that?"

"Um, well…" Yoh stuttered and everybody looked at him.

"Why are you blushing?" Rin asked. (A/N: We all know what happened there!). Ren chuckled.

"It's nice to see that all of you have become so chummy." Silva said.

"Silva, we have to prepare for the next event." Kalim said taking off his apron.

"Okay. Well, I gotta run. Good luck in the next round." Silva said and then left with Kalim.

* * *

Yoh, Ren, Ryu, Rin and Horohoro got some burgers from Madnalt and sat on the porch of a building to eat them.

Fast food was a new experience for Rin, so she just ordered based off what Yoh and everyone ordered. While eating and waiting for something to happen, they were talking about the fights and what the Patch had in store for them.

"Why this base?" Ryu asked.

"What is the Patch going to do with anyone here? I mean, there must be hundreds of shaman." Rin said.

"We're going to have to have to wait and see." Ren said.

"Only amateurs would get worked over something like this." A male voice said.

Everyone looked up and saw a boy with long hair, a tan poncho, star earrings, and really cool pants.

"Who are you? This is a private conversation. It's rude to intrude in other people's conversations." Rin said irritated.

"That's right, are you looking for trouble?" Horohoro asked.

"No, I'm not, but it looks like you are." All of a sudden a huge red fist came and punched Horohoro into a pole holding up the porch roof snapping it in half. "So don't be that way Horohoro. It's not nice."

"Horo-kun!" Rin said quickly getting up from her seat.

"What is that thing!" Ryu said looking sort of scared.

"That's Spirit of Fire. He has a quick temper so it's best if you don't make him mad."

"Who do you think you are?" Rin asked angrily pulling out her beads.

"It's been a long time since I've seen you Rin. I see that you finally left your house and started wandering around in the modern world."

"How do you know my name?" she demanded.

"Simple: A king should know everything."

"A king? You'll never be a king because I'm going to kill you right now!" Ren said as he activated his Oversoul and charged at the boy, who just got lifted up by the Spirit of Fire.

"I thought that you had found some answers when you went home Ren."

"Master Hao, you've had enough fun for now haven't you? We had better head back or we'll miss the plane to the battleground." An orange-haired girl said who appeared with like, 13 other people.

"Your right. I've introduced myself so we can go. Yoh, I came here because I liked what I saw in your last match. You'll make a fine servant, so do your best not to be killed." Hao said and then he and his followers left.

Meanwhile, a few minutes later, Horohoro was throwing a fit. "It wasn't fair! He blindsided me! I'll kick his butt next time!"

"You would have lost." Ren said.

"I'm sorry to say it Horo-kun, but Ren-san is right." Rin said.

"Yeah, you saw his Oversoul. To pick a fight with him would be a very bad idea."

"Fine, getting off that topic, how does he know you Rin?"

"I don't know, and I don't like it."

"What did he mean by 'I see you finally left your house'?"

"What does that matter? I don't really want to discuss it! I'm going to take a walk." Rin snapped. She got up and walked away. Orikir materialized, but did not follow his master.

"Why aren't you going with her?" Yoh asked.

Orikir just shrugged. "It's best if she was alone for a while. I've learned to let her be by herself for a while when she gets upset. She doesn't like things that she doesn't understand."

"Well, then maybe you can tell us what Hao meant."

_Maybe it would be best if they knew after all._ Orikir mused. _It would make Rin's life a lot easier and she would not have to keep acting. _"Well, you see…"

_Orikir! You tell them and I will personally strip you of all your feathers!_ Rin's voice said.

"…her family keeps her inside the house because of her illness. If she gets too hot or too cold, she faints. I guess you can say she has a fainting sickness. It's been like that her whole life." In his mind, Orikir could hear Rin mentally cursing him. _Stupid bird! Now that's another act I have to perform!_

_I'm sorry! I just thought of that off the top of my head! At least they believed it._

"How come she's never mentioned it before?" Horohoro worriedly asked.

"If she had told us, then I am sure that Anna would not have been so hard on her." Said Yoh.

"Don't worry about it. She didn't tell anyone because she didn't want to be a burden on anyone. She has developed an ability that allows her to keep her as warm or as cool as she needs to be. So she has had it under control for quite a while, but her family did not want to take any chances with her health."

Rin POV

As I walked, no walked is not the right word for this situation, stormed away from the group, I cursed myself for being so stupid: I should have known that Hao had reincarnated again for the Touranament. It has been 500 years since his last attempt to become Shaman King and naturally he would gather followers and try to learn everything he could about every shaman.

If he knew about my…family history, then why didn't he try to recruit me so he would gain an ally and lose an enemy? It doesn't make any sense and I don't like things that don't make sense.

I walked around for a while and after a few minutes; I realized that my actions earlier toward my friends were unfair and harsh, so I decided to head back and apologize. I stopped, turned around and headed back making a pact to myself to be more patient and not get as angry.

Normal POV

"Hao was right: we are getting on a plane at Yokocha." Ren said narrowing his eyes a little. The plane was a huge jumbo jet with the images of the Patch officials on the side.

"This is why those idiots are so poor. They spend all their money on putting on a big show." Horohoro said.

"Congratulations to everyone who made it this far." Goldva said into a microphone. "Please board the Patch Jumbo Jet at this time. Our destination: Patch Village in the United Stated of America."

"Hi everyone." Rin said trying to be cheerful as she pushed her way through the crowd. "How are we supposed to get on that thing?"

"Rin! When did you get here?" everyone turned in surprise.

"Just now." She said as she took Frosts reins. "I walked around for a bit, then realized that my actions earlier were a bit harsh and I am sorry."

"It's alright." Yoh said. "Everyone gets mad once in a while."

Yoh and Co. got on the Patch Jumbo Jet and found their seats on the planes starboard side and sat down. Rin sat next to the window; Horohoro next to her, next to him sat Ryu, then Ren, then Yoh.

Rin looked out of the window and then stated that she had never flown before.

"Everyone seems upset that we're suddenly going to America." Ryu said looking around.

"I don't mind." Ren said who had his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

"I wonder what America is like." Rin wondered. 

"I guess we'll find out when we get there. Lets get some rest. It's a 12 hour flight." Yoh said.

**YES! Finally done! The seperation lines are working again! And the guard injuries on my hands are killing me! Can't type anymore…must rest…**

**Review -Jai Akari**

_Copyright 2006 Jai Akari_


	10. Chapter 10

**In Japanese, "Rin" translates to "small bell" and "rin" is similar to the sound a bell makes. Thought that was interesting.**

**I am totally upset with myself for not updating sooner. I had a 5-day vacation from school last week (Oct. 5-9) and I had absolutely no motivation to type out this chapter and the other chapters of Momo-chan's story The Black Raven (It is completed. It just needs to be typed out). I also have not had any reviewers, so that kinda added to the reasons why I had no motivation. I wish to continue and finish this story. I now accept anonymous reviews; so don't be scared to click that little "go" button and type something out.**

**Enough chit-chat: on with the story!**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 10

10 hours into the flight, everyone on the plane was sleeping, talking, or doing whatever. Ryu, Yoh and Horohoro were asleep and Ryu was mumbling something about stewardesses. Ren was resting his eyes and Rin was just about to fall asleep when the plane TV's turned on and Goldva's image appeared on the screens.

"We are currently 40,000 feet above North America, approximately 750 miles from Patch Village."

This message woke everybody up and they wondered why they were woken up if they still had hours left to go.

"You must continue on to Patch Village on your own from here. There are no clues to the location of Patch Village. If you do not arrive in 3 months, you will be disqualified. Now gather your belongings, for as soon as this message ends, the Jumbo Jet Oversoul of the Patch Officiates will disintegrate. This is the first test of survival in the Shaman Tournament."

Now everyone was thoroughly aroused and some were angry that they had been tricked. A few were scrambling to collect their things.

The transmission ended.

The Patch Jet disappeared and everyone was in freefall. "Wow! Ren! I'm dreaming that I'm flying!" Yoh yelled over the wind. "I think you mean falling." Ren answered, who was falling headfirst but seemed incredibly calm about it. Horohoro was freaking out, Ryu was still asleep and Rin was holding on to Frost for dear life.

Rin forced her eyes open and looked around. All around her, shaman were trying to engage their Oversouls and find a way to land safely, but in the pit of her heart, Rin knew that most of them would not survive. Not wanting to witness their last fruitless attempts to survive, Rin turned her attention to her friends. She could not hear what words were exchanged between them over due to the roar of the wind in her ears and the fact that she was also some distance away from them, but she managed to somehow drift closer to them.

Horohoro was panicking, and then all of a sudden, Yoh hit him. "Of you start doubting, then I might doubt too."

"Alright! I'll just glide down!" Horohoro said as he strapped his snowboard to his feet and tried to glide down on snow like he did at the Sun-Sunshine 60 building. Then a flash of red appeared beside the group. Hao.

"You'll never be able to sustain that Oversoul for long Horohoro. Soon you'll be out of mana and then you'll be in big trouble."

Realizing he was right, Horohoro turned off his Oversoul. "You jerk!"

"If you want, you can all hitch a ride with me. Then you can land safely." Hao said.

"Forget it!" Horohoro shot back.

Hao looked around at the other members of the group, who one by one refused his offer. Ryu, by this time had woken up earlier when Horohoro sliced off the top of his pompadour. "Very well then. But if you're going to land, you had better think of something fast: look how quickly the ground is coming up!" Hao said. "I suppose I'll be going now. I look forward to seeing if you survived. Remember: it's not the fall that kills you, it's the impact." He smirked and flew off.

"That's comforting." Rin said to herself.

"What are we gonna do? Our Oversouls won't be able to withstand the impact!" said Ryu.

"There is a way we can." Ren said. "We just generate a huge Oversoul a split second before we hit the ground. That should help cushion the blow."

"But it takes a lot of concentration to form an Oversoul that big." Rin pointed out. "How can anyone concentrate in this kind of situation?"

"It'll work out." Said Yoh. "We have to believe that we can survive this. Remember, this is our first challenge in the 2nd round."

"Alright. Let's do this thing!" Horohoro said energetically.

Ryu integrated Tokagero into his wooden sword.

Ren integrated Bason into his Kwan Dao.

Yoh integrated Amidamaru into Harusame.

Horohoro integrated Kororo into his snowboard.

And Rin integrated Orikir into Frost creating a black Pegasus. She jumped on his back and held onto the reins.

"Get ready!" yelled Yoh.

SMACK! THUMP! Bason caught Yoh's headphones in his massive hand. "That was easier than I thought." Ryu said.

"That was easier than we thought. I'm still shaken up from that unpleasant fall." Rin said gliding down gracefully on her Pegasus.

Awkward silence.

"WHAT?"

"What?"

"You mean the entire time we were falling, we could have ridden down gracefully with you, but instead we had to deploy those big Oversouls to cushion the blow!" said Ryu.

"…yeah…I suppose so."

"We could have been desert pancakes!" Horohoro exclaimed.

"Oh! Gomennasai! It never occurred to me!" Rin apologized.

"Uh…guys?" Yoh began. "Which way do we go?" The group was literally in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but desert as far as the eye could see. Further away, cliffs could be seen and maybe some cactuses here and there.

"Great." Horohoro said crossing his arms. "This is just great."

"Maybe Amidamaru can help us!" Yoh said, an idea forming in his head. "He can fly up in the sky and see if he can see any city lights!"

"Orikir, you go too and help Amidamaru." Rin told the bird.

The two spirits flew into the night sky and stayed there for a few minutes before coming down looking forlorn. "Did you see anything?" Rin asked hopefully.

"There are no lights as far as the eye could see." Amidamaru said. "Not even Orikir's keen raven eyes could see anything."

"But we did spot a road." Orikir added. "It's not that for from here."

"What are we waiting for then? Lets go!" Horohoro said.

The group walked maybe a mile or two before they came to a two-lane highway. "Is America all desert like this?" Rin asked genuinely.

"Of course not!" Ren said. "This is the _Western _United States. There is some desert out here, but not anywhere else. Ever heard of the Great Plains?"

"No."

"I can't help you then."

"Look! We're on the historic Route 66!" Ryu exclaimed pointing to a road marker.

"Which way do we go?" repeated Yoh. "We don't know which way the nearest town or city is."

"Don't worry chief! Watch this: Big Thumb Oversoul! My legendary hitchhiking technique!" And, just like it's name, a big thumb Oversoul appeared on Ryu's sword as he held it in his right hand like a hitchhiker. Then, as if on cue, a truck pulled up by them.

"Ya'll need a ride? Hop in." the man said jerking his thumb toward the bed of the truck.

"Great!" Horohoro said jumping in. "Come on Rin. I'll help you up."

"One moment." She pulled a memorial tablet out of her pack and Frost dematerialized and went into the tablet. "Alright." Horohoro helped her into the bed of the truck and then Ren, Ryu and Yoh climbed in. Then they were on their way.

"According to Billy, we're headed toward Los Angeles, California. He said he'd drop us off at the nearest town." Ryu explained.

"I wonder what happened to the other shaman that were on the plane." Rin mused.

"Who knows?" Horohoro said. "If they fell into the mountains, they could be in big trouble. The mountain gods don't necessarily like it when people trespass. I should know; I live in the mountains. Anyway, We're lucky we fell relatively close to a road and Billy picked us up."

"Luck? That wasn't luck! My Big Thumb Oversoul summoned him!" Ryu exclaimed.

"Look at the sky!" Rin said pointing up. Everyone looked up and saw that the sky was filled with thousands of stars. "Isn't the American wilderness night sky pretty? You can just about see every star there is!"

"It is pretty." Said Horohoro. "It reminds me of home."

"You know," Ryu began. "There's nothing like traveling at night under thousands of stars. I speak form experience."

"Rather calming isn't it?" Yoh said. "Who knows what adventure is waiting for us in the great unknown?"

**Wanted to leave you with a relatively relaxing ending to this chapter. I can't wait until the group gets to Patch Village! I have a lot of things waiting for you! The fun is just getting started!**

**Review! Arigato!**

**-Jai Akari**

Copyright 2006 Jai Akari 


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry! Sorry! Author's note explained everything. I am putting numbers by whatever I have an Author's note on so it will be a little more organized.**

**Reviews:**

**KeLpIeenoch: I'm really happy that you like my story and think that Rin is a good character and blends in nicely. I was so worried that she did not. I am still developing the romance section in my mind and giving it different scenarios. I have a pretty good idea of what will happen. It's just in the matter of getting it to fit nicely on paper and fall into place right.**

**Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!**

Pretty in Black 

Chapter 11

After traveling all night, Billy dropped Yoh and Co. off at the little desert town of Yonta Fe.

"'Yonta Fe. Where genuine Native American traditions still lives on.'" Ren read. "Let's go ask some of the locals if they know anything about Patch Village."

After asking around for a while, Yoh, Ren, Rin, Horohoro and Ryu had no luck in finding any information on Patch. When asked, people did not even know that such a place existed, or thought that it was some kind of theme park. One lady thought that they were talking about a paper towel brand.

"Doesn't this town have a historical archive?" Rin asked.

"You mean like a library?" asked Yoh.

"Rin's right: we need to go to a place with I.T. (1)" Ren said.

"You mean that thing where you put an alien in your bike basket and fly across the moon?" Horohoro asked.

"That's E.T." Yoh corrected.

"Oh! I know! It's the snowman on Mt. Himalaya!" Horohoro exclaimed.

"That's yeti." Yoh corrected again.

"So where's E.T?" Ryu asked.

"I don't understand this conversation." Rin said.

Later… 

"Now, if we access all the world's databases like this, we should be able to find information on Patch Village." Ren said sitting at a computer in the Yonta Fe library.

"You can brag after you've found it." Horohoro said.

"I will, because the Tao's have employed 33 communication specialists."

"You mean your family knows about the location of Patch Village?" Rin asked in astonishment.

"We'll find out soon." Ren said and pressed the Enter key on the keyboard.

PROCESSING…NO MATCHES FOUND.

"What? Nothing?"

"You can't expect all the information in the world to be in computers." Said Yoh.

"I know, but you would think that there would be at least one little thing associated to it."

"I don't think that the Patch intended for us to find Patch Village using modern technology." Rin pointed out. "Maybe that's why there is no information about it."

The group split up and searched around in hopes of finding a book or something that might have any information and arranged to meet back in front of the library. A few minutes later, Ryu rejoined the group and had a green-haired kid (3) in a detective-type cloak with him.

"Who's this kid?" Ren asked.

"A new ally." Ryu said matter-of-factly.

"An ally?" Horohoro said skeptically.

"Yeah. People say you should travel in numbers and that you can't live without being compassionate."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lyserg Diethel."

"Nice to meet you too." Yoh said shaking Lyserg's hand.

"What do you mean 'Nice to meet you?!" Horohoro exclaimed.

"Well, isn't it okay?" Yoh asked.

"That's the Master I know!" Ryu said. "He thought that he shouldn't let this cute kid travel alone."

"Cute? That's a guy you know! A _guy_!" Horohoro exclaimed. Rin giggled at the thought and saw that Horohoro was right: the supposed girl was a boy! Rin had never seen a European before, except for the time when some came and tried to turn her house into a hotel one time. They haven't bothered to come back since. That had been a fun day.

"What?! Really?!" exclaimed Ryu. (Skip awkward part.) "Oh, well, everyone makes mistakes."

"Anyways, I'm against letting him join our group." Said Horohoro.

"I'm against it as well." Ren said. "We don't know anything about him. What if he's planning to backstab us?"

"I…wouldn't do that." Lyserg said.

"I don't have anything against him, but I'd rather not let him join." Said Rin.

"People who claim not to be suspicious are the one's who _are_ suspicious." Orikir added.

"I just want strong allies." Lyserg said. "I'll test you myself! Morphine! Oversoul!" A little pink fairy into a pendulum Lyserg had tied on his arm.

Quickly, Horohoro strapped his snowboard to his arm and also Oversouled.

"Horohoro, what are you doing?"

"Shut up Yoh! I'm reducing the number of our enemies by one!"

The pendulum flew through the air at Horohoro, who easily dodged it, and embedded itself into a tree.

"Did you honestly think that you could hit me with a weapon that small? Nipopo Punch!"

"Wow! Your spirit creates ice!" exclaimed Lyserg.

Behind him, Horohoro heard a metallic whizzing. Looking behind, he saw that the pendulum was chasing him! "What?"

"Homing Pendulum. After being Oversouled into the pendulum, Morphine will follow for target wherever it goes. My dowsing never misses its mark." Lyserg explained.

Horohoro tried to smack the little Oversoul away with the Nipopo Punch, but Morphine quickly and easily evaded it. It was kind of like a fly when you try to smack it with a flyswatter while it's flying around above your head. Lyserg tsked at Horohoro.

"Morphine is much too quick for that. You'll never be able to hit her." Morphine's pendulum-plane eventually ended up right in front Horohoro's face, only inches away.

"Ren." Rin said quietly.

"What?"

"What do you notice about Lyserg's Oversoul?"

Ren studied the Oversoul for a moment and said, "It's only in the pendulum. Lyserg is unprotected. Anyone could just attack from behind and defeat him."

"Just what I was thinking. Perhaps even sever the wire in the process. Damage to his medium will stop him quicker. Would you like to do the honors? I have no reason to fight him. But don't sneak up and attack him. That would be dishonorable and your status will be knocked down by several pegs." (4)

"Since when you care about my status? Last time I checked, I have a higher status than _you._ Compared to me, you're a commoner."

Rin laughed. "Are you sure about that?"

Ren narrowed his eyes at her and jumped into the air towards Lyserg brandishing his Kwan Dao. "Enough playing around! There's a flaw in your pendulum Oversoul: the farther it gets from you, the more exposed you are to danger." He swung his Kwan Dao downward attempting to sever the wire as Rin suggested. _I guess she's good for something._

"I'm not too worried about that." Lyserg said not turning around to face Ren. "My dowsing will find its mark anyway." Quickly, the pendulum turned around and threaded itself into Ren's body, broke his Kwan Dao in half, then proceeded to wrap itself around Horohoro, reducing his snowboard to splinters, and then struck him in the forehead.

"The Oversoul is along the entire length of the wire!" Ren uttered. Suddenly, the pendulum and wire pulled itself out Ren's body and Horohoro's head. Blood went everywhere. Ren and Horohoro fell to the ground.

"You know," Lyserg started, "you're lucky you didn't have to fight me in the prelims. You most certainly would have lost."

"How can be so certain of that?" Rin snapped, distressed that she was wrong in her observation of the pendulum Oversoul. "Orikir was right in saying that you were suspicious. You're aim was to kill off your rivals after all!"

"No, it's not!" Lyserg snapped back. "I need strong allies!"

"I didn't want to fight you to begin with, but now you leave me no choice!" Rin pulled out her beads. "Orikir! Oversoul into the beads!"

"I'll fight you. Become my ally if I win!"

"I doubt you'll win fighting me."

"That's enough!" stepped in Yoh, taking off his overcoat. "I don't care what your story is anymore. Did you think that I would let you join us after you hurt my friends? I'm taking them to the hospital. Please move aside."

Yoh and Rin, who was still Oversouled, walked past Lyserg and went over to where Horohoro and Ren lay. "You guy's okay?" Yoh asked.

"Of course." Ren said. "That was not enough to knock me out. Now move, I have some avenging to do."

"This fight won't get us anywhere you idiot. Ryu will help you. I'll help Horohoro."

"Horo-kun? Can you hear me?" Rin asked kneeling next to Horohoro trying to wake him up while Yoh was talking to Ren.

"Give it up. Bluey will be out for quite a while." Said Orikir coming out of Oversoul. The black clad girl just shook her head and sat back on her heels.

"I'm sorry Master." Said Ryu. "This happened because I brought him back with me."

"Don't beat yourself up over it. Help Rin and I get them to a hospital."

"Wait! What are you doing? I can't tell if you're strong or not if you don't fight me!" Lyserg exclaimed.

"Please move. I won't show you any mercy if you get in my way again." Yoh warned again, starting to sound a little annoyed at the shaman.

"I can't! I need allies! Homing Pendulum!"

"I'm not going to fight you. I'll end this in one blow." Yoh Oversouled.

"Ridiculous! Homing Pendulum will chase you down!"

Yoh swung Harusame around and stopped the pendulum on it's tip.

"When Amidamaru was a samurai 600 years ago, he was called 'The Fiend.' This is nothing for him." Amidamaru twisted Harusame and shattered the pendulum.

_He defeated it so easily. Maybe he's strong enough to stand up to Hao!_ Lyserg sat on the ground and took the wire cartridge out of Elizabeth (2), which was still smoking. "This is wonderful!" Lyserg said happily while taking out a spare pendulum and wire cartridge and started modifying the docking bay. "I was looking for strong allies, but I didn't think that I would find some _this_ strong. I was holding back before, but now I'm going to get serious!"

"He's still back there." Ryu said looking back.

"He must really like you Yoh." Ren said.

"Stubborn punk. He even carries a spare pendulum around." Said Horohoro, who was being supported by Rin.

"What are you going to do now Yoh?" asked Rin, eager to get rid of the English shaman.

"Nothing, because no matter how many times he tries, it will be the same."

Lyserg seemed a bit offended at this comment and began to Oversoul Morphine into the new pendulum. "It won't be the same. This is the crystal pendulum that my father gave me. It won't be the same as that cheap glass imitation. It won't be the same at all!"

Lyserg released the pendulum and sent it flying and locking itself into a billboard sign across the road.

"He's lost it!" Horohoro exclaimed. "This pendulum is even faster than the one Yoh broke!"

"Of course it is! Crystal conducts more spiritual power than any other substance. Now you won't be able to escape it! Will you fight me now?" Lyserg clicked a button on the docking bay and the wire retracted hauling him through the air. "I'm not putting on a show for you. This is the position in which I unleash my most deadly technique: Big Ben Wire Frame!"

All at once, the wire came out and took stared taking the form of Big Ben.

"A huge clock tower!" Ryu exclaimed in both amazement and fear. "Like a wire cat's cradle!" Everyone had to admit, even Ren and Rin, that it _was _impressive.

"Big Ben is the clock tower built in London in 1859 and the unforgettable place where I claimed my pendulum. I'm throwing every inch of my wire at you."

"No." Yoh said turning around menacingly. "Amidaryu Gokoujin!"

_Why does his face look like Hao's?_ Lyserg thought, as he was flooded with memories. The Amidaryu Gokoujin shredded the wire tower and Lyserg slumped to the ground.

"Why?!" he said punching the ground. "Why did I lose? I can't let myself lose to anyone!"

"It's because you're weak." Yoh said walking up to Lyserg. "You're probably the weakest shaman here."

"My dowsing never misses."

"Then why did you lose? Who are you really fighting?"

"What?" Horohoro and Rin asked together.

"I can see that you have skills. You started an meaningless fight because you are fighting against someone from you're past who's not me."

"I need allies and yet…why won't you understand?"

Surprisingly, Yoh punched Lyserg in the jaw.

"I don't care what happened to you. You tried to use my friends for your own purposes. That punch was for was payback for your selfishness. I'll listen to your story at the hospital. Come on, Lyserg."

Yoh went back to Ryu, Horohoro, Rin and Ren and helped Rin support Horohoro as they made their way to a hospital with Lyserg following a few paces behind.

**Notes:**

**I.T.: Information Technology.**

**Lyserg's pendulum docking bay is called "Elizabeth" (see manga vol.10.)**

"**Green-haired kid"…reminds me of Charlie Brown: "The round-headed kid". I'm sorry; I just had to say it.**

**As you can see, Rin is starting to pick up some modern sayings.**

**Man, I so want to go to London and see Big Ben. But, that's probably never gonna happen for a looong time now.**


	12. Chapter 12

**FINALLY! I can't believe it took me this long! But it took me a while to purchase Volume 11. When I finally did, I read it and started writing. It also took me so long to update because I had a bunch of school crap going on and I had to write a 6-page essay on O. Henry as well as some other small essays for my Literature class.**

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed!**

**Runelesca- So many reviews! It makes me happy. No, this isn't a Hao x OC, so don't worry. I don't think that I could pull it off.**

**KeLpIeenoch- Thank you! I'm so glad that you love my story. I didn't plan on Rin staying with Horohoro when he met Bluebell, but when I reread your review, I just couldn't resist. It was just too good of an idea to pass up. When you told me about wanting the Apollo story I didn't know what that was all about. I thought it was the one like in the anime when Horohoro meets Allen and his bear spirit. I wonder what color Bluebell's hair is. I'm thinking maybe a green or blue…

* * *

**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 12

Yoh shuddered. "A big chill just ran down my spine."

"What's wrong?" asked Horohoro.

"Are you getting a cold?" inquired Rin.

"No. A holy terror is coming this way. I've felt this way before."

"Ha! It's probably that scary fiancée of yours!" Horohoro joked.

Everyone laughed instead of Ren. "This conversation is stupid." He said. Yoh still seemed uneasy.

"You alright chief?" asked Ryu.

"You should bundle up is your getting cold." Lyserg said.

Horohoro leaned up against the bed of Billy's truck the gang was currently in, heading towards the Lucky Mountains. "Five days since we fell from the plane. Five intense, but good days."

"Very good. We accomplished lots of things." Rin said.

"A lot of weird things happened." Ryu added.

"But not as weird and intense as Ryu's face!" Lyserg joked. Rin laughed. Even Ryu thought it was funny.

"That's five days we don't have." Ren scoffed. "It's not going to be easy. I'm sure that the Patch had a good reason for giving us three months to find Patch Village. And, there's a reason Lyserg wasn't looking for Patch Village, but for someone who knew about it."

"I suppose I can't hide it from you now. I just didn't want to discuss it." Lyserg said.

"So you were hiding something then?" said Rin moving next to Lyserg so she could hear better than when she was sitting next to Horohoro.

"I'll explain: I don't have much experience, so I can only look for people's spirit energy or Ki. I didn't know what Patch Village looked like, so I searched for Bron, a shaman fight official, who pre-qualified me, but I couldn't find him."

"You couldn't find any Patch?" Yoh asked astonished.

"Some people can hide their Ki. Bron hid it during the qualifying exam, so that gave me some trouble. Homing Pendulum didn't work."

"How did you even pass?" Rin asked.

"I had to depend entirely on Morphine's senses." Morphine came out of the pendulum and sat on Lyserg's arm. "Morphine is the long-cherished spirit ally of the Diethel family. She can find anything within a one mile radius." Lyserg looked at her lovingly.

"So what you're basically saying is that she's useless now." Ren sniffed.

"Why are you so mean Ren?" Rin asked. "Morphine is very cute!" She tried to coax Morphine to sit on her hand.

"Still, a one mile radius is pretty good, and she is cute. Too cute for words." Horohoro said.

"She sure is." Ryu said.

"Who are you talking to Ryu?" Yoh asked.

Lyserg jumped at this comment. Unknown to Horohoro, Kororo tugged on his sleeve looking a hurt at her master's words.

"Maybe deep down, I wasn't looking for Patch Village. I was just looking for friends." Lyserg said. "I'm glad I met you all."

"Lyserg-kun totemo ii!" Rin said hugging Lyserg. (1) Horohoro's eye twitched at this.

"What?" Lyserg was confused.

"She just said you're nice." Yoh said.

"Lyserg you're such a sap!" Horohoro said. A few minutes more of driving brought the Company to the base of the Lucky Mountains. They said their goodbyes to Billy and started towards Duringo. That is until they went farther into the snow-covered mountains and Horohoro insisted that the group stop so he could snowboard on the slopes some.

"Whoo-YEAH!" Horohoro gleefully screamed coming down a slope. Lyserg and Rin clapped at his performance. "It's snow!" the happy shaman exclaimed.

"Well, we _are_ in the mountains in winter." Ryu said.

"This is stupid." Ren said. "Stop acting like a fool Horohoro. We need to go."

"Leave him alone Ren. The mountains are home to him." Yoh said. "Let him enjoy himself some."

"You all can go on. I want to ride the slopes some more. I'll meet you in Duringo." Horohoro said starting back up the hill.

"Be back before dark." Yoh reminded.

"Don't get lost!" Rin added.

"It's okay. If he gets lost I can dowse for him." Lyserg pointed out.

"Don't jinx me Lyserg! See ya' in Duringo!" with that farewell, they parted.

Horohoro was having the time of his life. For months, he had been longing to be by himself and do what he wanted to do. _Not that I would mind if Rin was here. I'm sure that she would enjoy watching me. Oh well, we can't have everything._ "Kororo! Let's glide down!" he yelled zooming off the cliff that had to be at least a 100-foot or more drop. Kororo was not there. _Aw crap. Not good._

3 DAYS LATER

"Noo! Kororo's gone! Wait, where am I?"

3 DAYS BEFORE

"He'll be along any minute, I'm sure." Rin said keeping an eye out for Horohoro.

"If he doesn't come soon, I say that we leave without him." Ren proposed.

"We promised him that we would meet in Duringo." Yoh said. "Be patient."

"_You_ promised him."

"Do you want me to dowse for him?" Lyserg asked.

"No, we'll wait for him. He won't be long. He probably lost track of time."

"I'll go look for him." Rin said.

"No, It's getting dark. You'll get lost." Yoh said.

"I lived in the mountains too. I'll be fine. I have Orikir and Frost with me."

"I still say no. Let's go into the city and find a place to stay."

"Alright." Rin grudgingly said.

Yoh, Ren, Lyserg, Ryu and Rin entered Duringo. "It's pretty crowded for being in the middle of the mountains." Ryu said.

"That's because it's near Mesa Verdede National Park. It's a big tourist attraction." Lyserg said. While he was explaining about Mesa Verdede, Rin stopped and let the group walk on getting lost in the crowd. She turned around and walked back the way they came.

BACK TO HOROHORO, 3 DAYS LATER:

Horohoro found himself bandaged up and laying, or rather, sitting up in a bed in a cabin. "Where am I?!"

A door opened and a woman walked in. "I made some soup. Do you want some?" she asked.

"How long have I been here?" Horohoro asked.

"Three days the woman said matter-of-factly.

"Three days!" Horohoro panicked. "I have to get to Duringo! My friends are probably looking for me!"

"But both of your legs are broken; as well as a rib or two. You have amazing vitality. It's a miracle that you survived that fall. You kept muttering 'Kororo in your sleep. Who are you anyway?"

"I fell because Kororo left me. The poor thing was probably jealous of Morphine. I can't believe it. I really messed up." He got dressed and started to walk out of the door. "I'm Horohoro. I don't know who you are, but thanks for saving me."

"Wait! Your legs! I can't let you go now! You need to heal!"

"You can't let me go?"

"There are two reasons: One, it's early spring and the grizzlies are waking up hungry from their hibernation. And two, I'm Bluebell Bloch, a ranger for the National Park Service. I have more authority than a foreigner knows. I need to ask you a few questions, like what you're doing here without a passport."

"Oh, so you're the one who gave me first aid. You wouldn't believe me if I told you what I'm doing here." He opened the cabin door and prepared to leave.

"Hey! There are hungry grizzlies out there." Bluebell got out a shotgun. "I'm serious! I won't let you get my Apollo killed!" She shot the shotgun at Horohoro.

"WHOA!"

* * *

Rin went back to where the group and Horohoro split up. It had not snowed any, and she could still see in the waning light where Horohoro went up the mountain. Using Orikir's good vision, she managed to find where Horohoro fell off the cliff.

"That would have been funny to see." Orikir laughed.

"I hope he's okay. Lets go down and see what happened after he landed."

"Alright."

* * *

"I see. So Apollo's a bear." Horohoro realized.

"My father found him. He was orphaned when as a cub when poachers killed his mother. The shotgun blast left a scar on his eye that looked like the craters on the moon. That's where he got his name. When we set him free, he hated people. If you went and provoked him into attacking you, he would have to be put down. It's the law. I became a ranger to protect Apollo."

"Your cooking is a lot better than your first aid."

"Were you even listening to me?!"

"I was listening. People are also a part of nature. The strong prey upon the weak. It's survival of the fittest. In the end, something gets displaced by something stronger. You can't stop all the poachers."

"What do you know about it? I'm aware of survival of the fittest! But what am I supposed to do? I have to at least try to stop the poachers!" Bluebell paused for a breath. "I'm sorry." she apologized. "This has nothing to do with you. You're just a snowboarder, and you didn't have a gun. You can stay the night here. I'll drive you to Duringo tomorrow. Goodnight." Bluebell left the room and shut the door behind her.

Horohoro sat in silence for a while then shrugged and got up from the table. He went over and looked at a picture of Apollo that was hanging on the wall.

"She didn't hear a word I said. Oh well. I don't know why I got so preachy anyway. Survival of the fittest; that's a lesson I know well. Right, Kororo?" He sighed and flung his snowboard case on the table and opened it. "Sorry guys, but I'm going to be delayed for a little while longer. There's something I need to take care of." He changed into his traditional Ainu clothes. He was preparing to leave when he heard a soft tapping on the window.

"Horohoro."

* * *

"Dang it! Now that girl's gone!" Ren griped. "I'm getting tired of this! Why don't we forget them and go on to Mesa Verdede?" Ren was peeved.

"We can't I said before that we'd wait for them." Yoh said.

* * *

"Horohoro."

"Rin?"

"It's me. Open the window." Horohoro went over the window, opened it and helped Rin inside.

"It's cold outside." She commented. She looked Horohoro up and down and said, "You look terrible. What happened to you?"

"Oh, I fell off a cliff snowboarding. Kororo left me. I don't know where she went. Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be in Duringo?"

"You were gone for too long and I went to find you. Yoh wants to wait for you in Duringo, but Ren is determined to go on without you. So come, we need to go." She grabbed his arm and tried to drag him out of the house, but he resisted.

"I can't go now, there's something I need to take care of."

"I heard you talking about survival of the fittest. Who was that woman you were with?"

"Her name's Bluebell. She's a park ranger and she found me after I fell off the cliff. I broke both of my legs and she said maybe a rib as well."

"Where were you getting ready to go?"

"To see Apollo."

"Apollo? What? Wait!" Horohoro left the house followed closely by Rin.

* * *

"Huh, so this is Apollo." Horohoro said to himself. "You're one huge bear. The bears back in Japan are pups compared to you."

"If you don't mind, I'll be standing back here, in case you need help." Rin said moving back a few feet to the forest edge. The big bear didn't appeal to her very well.

"Okay. You might want to stay there though."

Apollo growled menacingly.

"Don't be mad Apollo. I'm not here to fight you." Horohoro reasoned. He took out a bowl and a bottle and set it on the ground and Horohoro plopped down on the ground as well. "It's sake. Have a drink with me. We need to talk. It's called peaceful coexistence between humans and nature. Listen, I want you to go deep into the mountains where you'll never have to see or be bothered by humans ever again. It sounds harsh, but it's for the best. Both you and the girl will be unhappy if you stay here. Understand?"

Apollo just seemed to get angrier and let out a giant roar. Horohoro quivered. "I guess not."

A truck then came out of nowhere and hit Horohoro sending him flying through the air. It happened so fat, not even Rin had time to react. A woman in a ranger uniform got out.

"Why did you leave? What were you thinking? Do you have a death wish?" Bluebell screamed.

"What did you hit him for?" Rin screamed back. "You could have killed him!"

Bluebell was startled at the new arrival. "Who are you?" she asked flustered.

"I'm Rin. Horohoro's my best friend. What did you go and hit him for?"

Bluebell studied Rin. The girl's English was good and Bluebell guessed that she had just learned proper English a while back. Rin was wearing what Bluebell guessed was traditional Japanese boy clothing (2), her hair was in a low ponytail, and had a long chain of black beads around her neck.

"It's alright." Horohoro said getting up. "I just need to talk to Apollo."

"Talk? You're crazy! Just get in the car and we'll pretend this never happened."

"I'm not crazy, I haven't told you, but there are reasons why I need to talk to Apollo and why I actually can. You see, where I come from, bears are gods. Gods dwell in everything around us. Fire, water, whales, owls, houses, tools; they give people blessings in the form of food, clothing, and shelter and people give thanks to them. They can even complain if they feel that the gods are wrong about something. My people practice coexistence with nature. I come from a family of shaman. We're the go-betweens for humans and spirits."

"You mean like Native American Medicine Men?" Bluebell asked.

"Yeah, sort of. Humans are destroyers of that have forgotten to be thankful to nature. That's how animals feel." Apollo smacked Horohoro.

"That still doesn't mean that you can talk to bears!" Rin put a hand on Bluebell's arm, putting aside her anger at the woman. _She's not so bad. She hit Horohoro to make him understand, but she's the one who doesn't understand._ "He'll be alright. Like him, I'm also a shaman, but of a different class. He's strong. He won't stop until his mission is complete." Rin said gently trying to get Bluebell to understand. Bluebell detected a hint of admiration in Rin's voice.

"That hurt." Horohoro commented as he wiped some blood off his face. "Dang, the outfit Pirika made me is ruined. She's not going to be happy about that. Oh well, I'm not done yet. C'mon Apollo, I've got a special place in my heart for you." Apollo smacked the poor blue-haired shaman around a little bit more.

"Horohoro!" Bluebell and Rin yelled starting towards him.

"You two stay out of this!"

"Stop it! Apollo will kill you!" Bluebell yelled.

"Your screaming is upsetting Apollo more! Don't you get it yet? Can't you see why he's so angry? Apollo's an outcast! You marked him with a human scent, so the other bears rejected him. He couldn't stay with you either."

"I did this to Apollo?" Bluebell said in growing realization. "Horohoro, stop it. What will I do if you die?"

Rin knew that she didn't mean anything by it, but she could not help but feel jealous. She kept quiet through the predicament and let Horohoro and Bluebell work it out.

"I'm here on my own choosing. I lost Kororo because I forgot to be thankful. I won't die. Not until I awaken my soul and create an endless field of butterbur that can never be destroyed. Now Apollo, where were we?"

Kororo was at the edge of the clearing watching the scene before her with tears of happiness in her eyes. Apollo calmed down and went down on all fours and began licking Horohoro's wounds.

"Animals don't hurt people without a good reason. His soul has awakened too. Here, sake's good for disinfecting wounds. Have a drink, to celebrate."

Suddenly, a plume of blood erupted from Apollo's head after a bullet entered his skull, shattering the bottle of sake in Horohoro's hand as well. "What?"

Shouts of victory were heard from the woods.

"Hot diggity! I got 'um!"

"He's a big'un!" some men said in the typical redneck accent. Their shouts of joy were soon replaced by frightened tones. "There's someone there! And that's a park ranger!"

Horohoro did not seem to hear them and stood there over Apollo's body shocked. "I don't believe it. We finally connected and he's dead." Rin walked over to Apollo's body and touched his fur. Up close, he was even bigger than she first thought.

"It's a shame that a creature as big and powerful as him was killed without a fight. He should have had an honorable death. He couldn't even defend himself." Rin could feel the pain of such a senseless death. Bluebell was in shock.

"No…"

The three poachers started to run not wanting to be caught by Bluebell and sent to jail.

"Hold it. You killed him, now you have to take him with you." Horohoro said to them. "I won't let her stop you."

"They're poachers! They broke the law and killed Apollo!" Bluebell argued.

"I don't care why they killed him. If they leave him to rot, then he was killed for nothing. Slain animals can only return to the land of the gods if the are put to good use."

"Let's go. I don't want my life ruined over a little sport." One of the poachers said to his companions.

This hit the two shamans hard. Such a thing was unthinkable! "A sport?!"

"Of course!" Bluebell yelled getting her shotgun out of her truck and taking off after the three men. "What did you think that they were doing?! Freeze! Stay where you are!"

Horohoro took off in a fury and chased after the men with amazing speed. "You killed Apollo and you didn't even need food?!"

"What's the matter with him? He's gone crazy!" one of the men said.

"Stop! Or I'll shoot!" another said raising his rifle. Rin never experienced firearms before and did not know what hey were capable of. The man fired.

"Horohoro!" Bluebell screamed.

_What happened? What did they do to Horohoro?_ Rin asked herself frantically trying to process the information that was coming into her brain at the same time. She didn't know what to do. _Should I stay here or help Horohoro and Bluebell? How can a mere sound harm someone?_

"Idiot! What'd ya' go an' shoot em' for?"

"He was crazy! He charged us!"

"It's a horrible thing," Horohoro muttered, "not to be used for something useful. If an animal is killed for nothing, then it existed for nothing." He got up from the ground and steadied himself, making sure he wouldn't fall down.

"You shot him for sure!"

"I'll make you pay for what you did!" Horohoro angrily said. The whole right half of his face and shoulder was covered with a thick layer of ice with bullets embedded in it. The poachers thought that he was a monster and shot at him again. Horohoro swung his arm across his face and a big wall of ice stopped the bullets.

"Against the forces of nature, your massed produced chunks of lead are useless." He held an ikupasuy in his hand.

_I see how their weapons work now._ Rin thought._ It's not the noise that kills, but the pieces of metal that it emits._ She grinned at her newfound knowledge.

The poachers were now starting to panic.

"Oversoul Kororo Ikupasuy! Neike Fuike Kiroro!"(3)

* * *

"There's no way to change what happened." Bluebell said. "We couldn't have saved Apollo, but at least those poacher are in jail now."

"We did our best Horohoro." Rin said sitting next to Horohoro on the couch. He had his knees pulled up to his chin depressed.

"You did say that the strong prey upon the weak." Bluebell pointed out.

"I know. And I stand by it. But I…"

Bluebell came up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. "It's not easy to accept, but I believe that you have what it takes to become Shaman King." Rin and Horohoro were surprised that she knew about the Shaman King.

"Someday you'll crate a butterbur field that no one can destroy. Don't let this tragedy discourage you."

"But it's so sad!" Horohoro cried.

Rin hooked her arm in his and leaned her head on his shoulder. Looking out the window, she could see a cross and one of Horohoro's headbands that marked Apollo's grave.

**

* * *

Extra-long chapter for you all.**

**Notes**

**"Lyserg-kun totemo ii!"-"Lysrg-kun is nice!" I don't know if this is an accurate translation or not, but I think it's relatively close.**

**When I think of traditional Japanese boy's clothing, I imagine something out of Rurouni Kenshin.**

**Neike FuikeKiroro- Impeccable power**


	13. Chapter 13

**I was planning to have this chapter up by Valentine's Day, but alas, fate would not allow it.**

**The author's note I put up wasn't so permanent, after all. While typing this chapter out, I decided to delete it since it would probably confuse me chapter-wise. But the decree still stands.**

**Thank you to all reviewers!**

**PandaYumi7- I'm a girl…don't worry. It would be weird if a guy were called Jai Akari. Ha! **

**Runelesca- Thank you! You already got my reply, so yeah. No words to say, except again, thank you for the reviews.**

**KeLpIeenoch- Thank you! (For both reviews.)**

* * *

Pretty in Black

Chapter 13

"Hotel Duringo. They're probably staying here." Horohoro told Rin as they walked into the main lobby of the hotel.

"How do you know that they'll be here?" asked Rin. "I came into Duringo with them and I didn't know where they'd be. They were talking about Mesa Verdede."

"It's pretty straight forward. Ren would want to stay in a nice hotel. He and Lyserg are rich enough, so I figured they would be here and lo, I am right." He pointed to a table across the hotel dining room where the tip of Ren's hair was visible.

* * *

"Stupid Ainu for getting lost. Stupid girl forgoing back for the stupid Ainu." Ren muttered. 

"They'll be here. They couldn't have found us right off the bat. There are a lot of hotels in Duringo. We didn't tell them which one we'd be in." said Yoh. He yawned. Ren fumed some more.

"Hey." A familiar voice said that made Ren _very_ irritated. "Konnichiwa" a feminine voice said that made him even angrier.

"Horohoro! Rin!" Yoh said happily jumping up. The others followed suit and knocked that table over in their hurry.

"'Hey'? Is that all you can say?! Ryu scolded.

"Fools! Where have you been?!" Ren yelled, the spike on his head growing to twice its size.

"Sorry. I had to purify my heart. Among other things."

"I went to find him." Rin pointed to Horohoro.

"We'll make it up to you. Lets go."

* * *

"So what happened? Horohoro's acting more mature than usual." Ryu said. 

"That's a good thing. He'll take things more seriously now. Hopefully. Rin's changed too. She and Horohoro seem closer." Yoh pointed out. "Ease up on him Ren."

"Sorry. Horohoro's smugness annoys me." Rin didn't try to stop him from beating Horohoro up because Horohoro said he didn't mind.

_He's going to feel it later._ She thought.

"What happened to you two? You were gone for three weeks. You didn't do what I think you did, did you?"

Ryu asked.

"HENTAISHA! (1)" Rin screamed throwing some hard object at him and beaning him in the head. "Of course not!" Lyserg laughed, either at what Ryu said, or the fact that Rin hit him. Horohoro was too busy getting beat up by Ren to notice what was said.

"Mesa Verdede!" Yoh cheered, pointing out the window. Everyone leaned out of the window leaving no one driving the van, which miraculously kept driving down the road. "It's awesome! Look how they built the buildings on top of a mesa!"

"The guidebook says that these are the ruins of a highly sophisticated tribal civilization that vanished before white men came to America. It was probably the Patch." Lyserg pointed out.

"I bet we'll find some answers here." Horohoro said. "Lets hurry!"

Ryu resumed control of the van and sped up, hitting a bump and sent the van into the air and tossing its occupants out. Had they not been the ones in the situation, they would have laughed their heads off.

"I'm all dirty now." Rin complained.

"Who cares?" Ren muttered.

"I do! This was my last clean set of clothes!"

"Its just sand! Get over it and shut up!"

"Why don't I get all of your clothes dirty and see how you like it, you…you arrogant, no good…gokiburi! (2)"

"What did you call me?"

"Gokiburi!"

"Time to die!" Ren pulled out his Kwan Dao.

Everyone rushed in and restrained the shaman as best as they could. Rin grinned. "Oh, so you hate being called gokiburi, Gokiburi?" Ren yelled and struggled even harder against his captors, dragging them towards Rin.

"Rin…could you not call him that? It's very hard holding him back." Horohoro said straining against Ren's pull.

"Capital idea." Lyserg agreed, also struggling against Ren. Yoh was trying to take the Kwan Dao away.

"But provoking him is so entertaining though." The boys restraining Ren shot her a death glare.

"Alright, but only if he settles down." She moved closer to Ren and patted his face. "You don't have to be so responsive. Don't let such things get to you." She smiled.

Ren grudgingly settled down and the boys gradually released him. "Come on. We've wasted too much time."

* * *

Yoh and Co. wandered into the ruins. Yoh noticed a road that led deep into the city and was barricaded by a 'keep out' sign. They peered into the darkness with awe. "Wow, it looks like it goes way in there." 

"Let's go then." Ren said as he pulled a part of the barricade out of the ground.

"Excuse me." A foreign voice said. "No one without a special permit is permitted beyond that point. If you want to go in, you can come with us. How does that sound?" The group turned around and were faced by a big Chinese dude who had what looked like a gong on his back, some guy with a veil over his face, another bug dude who had some kind of football uniform on, and two vampire-looking guys.

"Hey, that's great!" Yoh said obliviously. "The tourists here sure are nice!" Rin smacked her face in embarrassment at what Yoh said.

"Those aren't tourists Yoh." Ren said. "We've seen them before."

"They work for Hao." Rin said, still embarrassed for Yoh.

There was a brief pause between the two groups before Lyserg prepared to attack Hao's men and Yoh stopped him. "What do you want?" Yoh asked pushing his hair off of his face. The men seemed taken aback by Yoh and muttered amongst themselves. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Forgive us, but your resemblance to Hao-sama is significant. You're obviously a descendent of his."

Yoh and his group were dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"…"

"…"

"Hao's descendent?!"

"But Hao is just a kid!" Tokagero said.

"Hey, I was right! We do look alike!" Yoh said.

"Can someone explain this please?" Horohoro said sounding stressed out.

"Sorry, but we have a pressing matter to fulfill. Hao wants Yoh to experience a severe trial, so we're going to kill his friends." The veiled man said. "And, he says hello to you Rin-san."

"!"

The blonde vampire guy cam out of nowhere behind Lyserg and bit him on the neck.

"I attacked you because your guard was down. You were blinded by anger." He said.

"Lyserg!" Ryu yelled. "What did you do to Lyserg?"

"So emotional aren't you?" the man said. Ryu charged him, but the man disappeared.

"What?"

"Behind you." The man took his sword and cut the top of his pompadour off. Both Ryu and Lyserg fell to the ground.

"How very ephemeral and fragile you are. It's pathetic. I can handle them by myself. Allow me to introduce my spirit ally, the vampire hunter Blamuro." A spirit of a man in foreign clothing and long hair appeared. "And I am Boris Tepes Dracula: a vampire."

"Dracula!" Yoh screeched.

"Dracula isn't real!" Ren scoffed.

"If you're a vampire then you aren't a shaman! Besides, if anyone is a vampire, then it's _that_ guy!" Horohoro pointed to one of Hao's men. The man flinched as if he had been hit.

"Your right: the horns, the mustache, the outfit…he's got it all!" Yoh said.

"You have overlapping characters!" Ren scoffed again. Horohoro guffawed.

Boris looked pained and fell to his knees. "You humiliated me! Damayaji is not equal to me! It's unforgivable!" Boris took out his sword and stabbed Damayaji in the back, literally skewering him. "Now there will be no more confusion." Boris said. Damayaji coughed up some blood before falling dead to the ground. Tourists who saw this started screaming and running away.

"Boris, we're trying to keep a low profile and we have no time to do damage control." The Arabian man said.

"Forgive me, I got carried away. It's a weakness of mine."

"It's alright Boris. Damayaji shouldn't have been so easy to kill, and we don't need any weaklings with us. His death is of no importance."

"Alright, I'll dispose of his body. Polluting nature is an insult to Lord Hao." Boris's cape turned into a pair of bat wings and he once again skewered Damayaji's body. "I'm sorry. It is their fault your dead. Come join your powers with mine." Damayaji's body shriveled up and turned into dust.

"He's disgusting. As well as the rest of them." Rin said.

"They're not even fazed. That guy that was killed was their friend." Horohoro said. Lyserg struggled to stand up and Yoh went over to help support him.

"Are you alright? You've been bitten!"

"I feel cold, and it feels like I'm going to pass out."

"Do you know what will happen to someone who is bitten by a vampire?" Boris asked. "He will become a vampire himself, and my minion as soon as my blood has circulated throughout his body."

"This can't be for real." Horohoro said. "Dracula can't walk around in the middle of the day like this guy can."

"Idiot!" Boris screeched. "What do humans know about vampires? How can mere sunlight reduce someone as powerful as me to ashes? How can looking at a cross burn my eyes out? Your lies are insulting!"

"He's crying again." Rin commented nonchalant.

"This guy's weird. He lost me." Horohoro said. Boris speedily appeared behind him.

"I told you: I'm a vampire." He drew his sword. "Now I will silence your disrespectful tongue." Unknown to everyone, Ryu had gotten up, then walked towards them…then punched Boris in the face, thus saving Horohoro.

"You were looking the wrong way." He said. "I'm the one your gonna fight. I'm extremely annoyed right now. Look after Lyserg Master Yoh." He rearranged his pompadour (once again), and pulled out his wooden sword. "Today we celebrate the resurrection of Bokuto no Ryu!"

* * *

**Yay! Done! Chapter 14 soon to follow!**

**FOR AN IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE, PLEASE VISIT MY PROFILE AND SEE "STORY NEWS: PRETTY IN BLACK" (NOTE IS IN BOLD).  
**

**Notes**

**(1) Hentaisha: pervert**

**(2) Gokiburi: cockroach. I desperately wanted someone to call Ren a cockroach since he hates the little buggers**.


	14. Chapter 14

**Thank you to all who reviwed on this story, no matter how long ago! Your suppport gives this story life!

* * *

**Pretty in Black

Chapter 14

Boris's comrades were shocked, yet amused that Ryu punched Boris. "He shouldn't have done that." The Chinese man said. "Now he won't be allowed a normal death."

Boris was slumped on the ground holding his face with one hand. "My face…" he muttered. "You defiled my beautiful face! This is unforgivable!" Again, with inhuman speed, Boris appeared behind Ryu with drawn sword attempting to kill him.

"Ryu! Get out of the way!" Rin quickly warned.

"It's too late little girl! I'm too close for him to escape or use his sword!"

What Ryu did next was astounding: he simply back-fisted Boris in the face, breaking his nose, which started bleeding profusely.

"I'm not little!" Rin said in her defense, but no one appeared to hear her.

"Ryu punched him!" Horohoro exclaimed dumbstruck.

"You know, if you like getting knocked in the face, I can keep it up all day. I was the baddest dude in Funbari Hill. I'm a first-class street fighter!" Ryu side kicked Boris in the stomach.

"You missed my face." Boris painfully mocked.

"Just so you know: I'm even deadlier with my sword, because I'm Bokuto no Ryu. Hell-Dragon Crimson Lizard!" Ryu knocked Boris across the plaza and into the side of a building, which partially collapsed on top of him, burying him in the rubble.

"Tokagero, a former bandit chief and my spirit ally, also graduated from the school of hard-knocks too. He's badder than I am."

"Shut up punk." Tokagero said through Oversoul. "I've got 600 years seniority on you so you had better watch it."

"Is Ryu actually that tough?" Horohoro asked.

"Grandpa trained him, but the only real fight he's been in was at Ren's house." Yoh said, still supporting Lyserg, who was trying not to pass out.

"He did pretty good in that fight too. Considering that he basically just finished his training." Rin said.

"He can control Seirei-class spirits." The Arab realized.

"Seirei-class? What's that?" Horohoro asked.

The rubble that encased Boris began to move and his voice was heard saying, "After 500 years, a dead person's soul is freed from its human shape and takes on its pure form." Boris fully emerged from the rubble and flew into the air on the bat wings created by his cloak. "In other words, it becomes a monster."

"He's alright?" Rin said astonished. "His injuries had healed without a trace!"

"You're a monster!" Horohoro accused.

"You're awfully excitable." Boris said.

"Am not!"

"Boris, you let your guard down." The Arab said.

"I'm alright. I can't die until I've avenged my family. Die!" Boris dived down once again, prepared to skewer Ryu on his wings' talons.

_He's using that same move over and over again. _Rin thought. _He's becoming too predictable._

To block the oncoming attack, Ryu used his Oversoul snakes to wrap around the winds, and then crush them.

"You're such a fool." Boris laughed. "Nothing you do can defeat me." A vampire bat landed on Ryu shoulder and bit him. Then, the pools of Boris's blood on the ground rose up and turned into thousands of bats, which proceeded to attack Ryu.

"Stop drinking my blood!" Ryu demanded trying to ward the bats off with his sword. You, Ren, Rin, Horohoro and Lyserg were ducking their heads, avoiding the bats. Rin attempted to destroy some of them with her beads. Slicing in half, the bats only multiplied.

"Rin." Yoh said urgently. "I'm going to help Ryu. Watch Lyserg."

"Alright." Rin quickly went over to Yoh, who passed Lyserg to her. He then started running towards Ryu.

"How are you feeling?" Rin asked Lyserg. His only reply was a shiver.

"Not so fast Yoh." Boris announced. "You must stay out of this."

Lyserg struggled in Rin's arms, who realized what was happening. Unable to restrain him, Lyserg broke free of her hold and tackled Yoh, pinning him on the ground.

"Lyserg! Let go! Ryu needs help!" Yoh managed to turn onto his back and look at him. A sick realization hit him as well: Lyserg had turned into a vampire.

"Remember," Boris reminded. "Those who are bitten by a vampire eventually becomes a vampire themselves." With a flick of his hand, the bats integrated with his cloak, making it bigger. "Blood gives me my power: the more blood, the powerful I get."

Tokagero panicked and ran off in the opposite direction. "You big coward! Get back here!" Horohoro yelled after him.

"He abandoned his master." Boris contemplated. "Humans are so cowardly." He grimaced. "I hate humans. That's why I joined Lard Hao. They need to be exterminated!"

"Boris is getting worked up." The Chinese said. "What should we do?"

The Arab took down the barrier that blocked the path to the inner city and said, "He's beyond our control now. We need to leave before we get caught in the middle."

"You're just leaving?" Yoh said from under Lyserg.

"Do not fret Lord Yoh: even if Boris loses, you will still have to fight us. This road," he waved his arm towards the path, "leads to Patch Village. We will see how you can fight a vampire." The three companions continued down the path.

"The road to Patch Village is right there." Ren said. "So if we want to continue, we have to defeat the vampire." He grinned that unique grin of his.

"That won't be a problem." Ryu said. "This will all be over in a few minutes."

"How can you still stand after losing so much blood?" Boris asked amused.

"I can't relax now. I have work to do. You won't get away with killing your friend or possessing Lyserg. It's bad when you're a monster, but the fact that you're human makes it even more disgusting."

"He's human?" Rin said.

Boris was quiet for a moment before saying, "After all that has happened, you still don't understand."

"I know your smell." Ryu said. "You are hated by everyone and you lost everything you had."

"Don't insult me!" Boris shouted at him. "I'm nothing like you!"

"You're right Ryu." Tokagero said licking some blood off his fingers. "He possessed Lyserg by turning his spirit into blood and entering through the wound when he bit him. I have to admit: it is a clever trick."

"You only pretended to be scared!" Boris turned on him infuriated.

"I told you he was a wicked bandit. I don't know what happened to you, but I know that your human and I even know how to defeat you!" Ryu said Oversouling.

Everyone was fill with hope at this thought. Unknown to them, they were about to have company.

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_To be continued in May…

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**Not too much of Rin in this chapter. It was more of Ryu's time to shine and I didn't really want my character to steal the spotlight too much. I hope no one minds.**_

**After the X-Laws show up and Lyserg goes with them, I might skip ahead a bit in the story so it doesn't take forever to finish. I have some exciting twists in store and I can't wait to reveal them. _Rubs hands together eagerly_**

**I hope that my calling Mohammad Tabharish (Turbine in the dub) "the Arab" don't offend anybody. I call him that right now because his name hasn't been mentioned yet. (Mohammad Tabharish _is_ his name right?) If it does offend you, I sincerely apologize.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I'm back minna! I know you are all crying tears of happiness to see me again after my long holiday! I put all of my Fanfiction works on hold and worked some on my original stories for Fictionpress. (Feel free to check them out.) My computer was also having a few technical problems so I couldn't type anything out for a while.**

**Stay tuned for the special bonus material at the end of the chapter.**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 15

Rin found it odd that Yoh was smiling while trapped under a possessed Lyserg, even though everyone now knew that Boris was not a real vampire and Lyserg himself would not turn into one himself. That, and the fact that Ryu claimed he knew how to beat Boris put Rin at ease. The only thing to worry about now was getting the bat guy out of the way, finding Patch Village and fighting her way to the top and becoming Shaman Queen. Rin smiled inwardly. _As Horohoro would say: "It'll be a piece of cake"._ She sniffed in disgust._ Boris is crying again._

"Cut it out!" Ryu yelled. "Are you just upset that I've got you figured out?"

Boris did not answer him immediately. His bangs covered his eyes and he said solemnly, "It's true that my ancestor, Vlad Tepes Dracula, was a human. He was an incredible man: he defended his country against a powerful enemy and was a hero. Bun then the he was defamed and branded a vampire!" Boris' outburst startled everyone. Nevertheless, Boris continued on.

"He was the Prince of Wallachia during a time of war. The Ottoman Empire wished to add Wallachia to his empire, but Vlad repelled the Ottoman Sultan's army by means of a horrendous strategy: when the Ottomans marched into Wallachia, they camem upon 20,000 impaled Turks displayed like trophies. They suffered total psychological defeat. Vlad's strategy earned him the nickname "Vlad the Impaler" The people feared him and then killed him. They forgot about that they saved them from Ottoman rule and only remember him as a bloodthirsty vampire!

My family was then forced to flee our home and hide in the forests of Transylvania. Men sought us out to kill us and become famous." Boris furiously pointed to Blamuro, who could be seen behind Lyserg. "That bogus vampire hunter Blamuro was one of them!"

She didn't know about everyone else, but Rin was starting to feel sorry for Boris. Yoh wondered how a man got a spirit ally if he wasn't a shaman. Boris seemed more than willing to explain. "A man came to us and offered to give us shamanic powers to become real vampires and defend ourselves from those that hunted us. Lord Hao gave us hope. In return, we swore to serve him for all eternity."

_I'm not surprised._ Rin thought._ That seems to be the case of everyone who wants to kill us._ She looked over at Horohoro who gave her a "this-is-just-great" look.

"Our war upon humanity will continue until it has been exterminated!" Boris screamed, and spikes emitted from his cloak and skewered at least five spectators who turned to dust in just a flicker of an eye. A few feet away, there was a brief flurry of movement before everyone realized that Lyserg had gotten Yoh in a headlock, drew Harusame, and set the sharp, pointy end at his own throat. Then looking up, Horohoro, Rin, Ryu and Ren saw that at least 20 for more sharp and pointy objects were hanging over their heads.

"How many times do you think we'll face death?" Rin reflected out loud to no one in particular. "Do we have something with us that is bad luck?"

"That's a huge possibility." Horohoro said.

"I expect no resistance from you." Boris announced with a smirk on his face. "Move and I will force the boy to kill himself. You!" Boris commanded Ryu's attention. "You claimed that you knew how to defeat me. Now is the time to prove that you actually do."

"It's no good Ryu." Rin warned. "Lyserg is possessed. Move and he'll kill himself."

"But if we _don't_ move _we'll_ get skewered." Horohoro countered. "Does anyone have any bright ideas that won't get us killed?"

Rin vigorously shook her head no. "All I can think about are those spikes. I do have an idea what we _could_ do, like make a shield, which would be good for us but bad for them." She gestured towards Yoh and Lyserg.

Yoh attempted to free himself, but stopped when Boris warned him that he might strangle to death. "Blamuro won't loosen his grip. My Oversoul will not be affected by the boy's limitations. Your sentimentality towards your friends is the reason you're in this dilemma. If you would just permit them to die, you could simply be on your way. You can survive without them." He lifted up his sword. "When this drops…you'll all be dead." Rin, Ryu and Ren were silent. Horohoro cursed.

Something then clicked in Yoh's slacker mind. "Oh, I see, this is easy. We'll make it."

"Make it out dead!" Boris bellowed and dropped his sword. "Death by impalement!"

The small group of shaman then decided to take the chance to defend themselves. Ryu caught most of the spikes by Tokagero, who then complained that he didn't have enough hair, Horohoro smashed some into bits of ice, Ren sliced some more into harmless pieces with his Golden Chinese Zan-Mai, and Rin used a black energy attack to disintrgrate the rest.

Boris was panicking and ordered Blamuro to kill Lyserg. When nothing happened, Boris became infuriated. "Do as you are told and strike!"

"He won't listen to you anymore." Amidamaru announced, standing next to a crying Blamuro. Orikir was perched on his shoulder and seemed to be whispering into his ear. "His conscience has rekindled."

"Impossible! He has no sense of right and wrong! That was taken from him long ago!"

"That's evidently changed." Horohoro joked.

"I used to be a ghost-enslaving shaman like yourself." Ren lectured. "I learned to see that ghosts had a heart too. We figured that if Blamuro had a heart, we'd be able to get through to him. So we distracted you."

"Do you realize that if you failed you would all be dead?"

"I'm not surprised that our actions confuses you." Said Ryu who was perched atop of Ren's Oversoul. "My spirit has more tenacity than yours. You chose destruction while I chose to find my happy place. Now I am able to build something worthwhile, make friends, and develop a technique that will smash my enemies to pieces!" Ryu's Oversoul took the form of a large eight-headed serpent.

Rin took a step back when she recognized what it was. _The Yamata no Orochi._ She was bewildered that Ryu had the great snake god as a second spirit ally. She felt lightheaded for a brief moment.

"My new sword was carved from shin-boku. This is my Ame no Murakumo that slew the great Yamada no Orochi!" Yamada attacked Boris, who went flying into the cliff. His blood Oversoul didn't regenerate. Ryu then fainted and fell.

"Is he fainting?" Ren asked.

"Yes, and falling." Rin said.

A wire net quickly formed and caught Ryu just before he hit the ground. "It's no wonder that he did. He spent a lot of mana."

Hey, Lysie! Your finally conscious!" Horohoro greeted.

"I was conscious the whole time. Even when possessed by Blamuro. I saw everything that was happening. It's such a shame that so many innocent people were killed."

"Where is Blamuro anyway?" Horohoro asked.

"He moved on. He apparently had no regrets about this world." Ren said.

"Orikir, who knew that you had a heart? I'm surprised that you wasted your precious time to help a ghost you didn't know." Rin said as Orikir flew over and perched on her outstretched arm. Orikir puffed out his feathers in annoyance.

"I only did it to help myself. If you all were killed, how would I have gotten back home to my comfy perch? I didn't want to be abandoned in some foreign country. And for _your_ information," he picked at a feather with his beak. "I don't have a heart. That fool slacker won't have one in a minute if he keeps doing what he's doing." Orikir nodded towards Yoh.

"I want to ask him about Hao and see how he's doing." Yoh said starting to climb up to Boris. This knocked everyone off of their feet.

"Your crazy!" Horohoro screamed at him. "He's still alive! He'll kill you if you get too close!"

'There's no use questioning him!" Lyserg yelled after Yoh. "He's one of Hao's people!"

Yoh stopped and looked back at his friends. "If we leave him, he'll die and we'll be just a bunch of murderers. If he goes like that, Ryu's efforts would be wasted." He let this sink in before he turned to Boris.

"Yoh…" Boris gasped.

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**Bonus Feature!! (Can it get any better than this?)**

**Hiroyuki Takei did his research about Vlad the Impaler, but for Shaman King Volume 12, he apparently had to leave some facts out. I, Historically Correctness Freak Jai Akari, am here to pick up the pieces he had to leave out and put them back in, and fix some of the boo-boos.**

Dracula: The Real Story Behind The Legend.

Vlad's predecessors were warlord princes of Wallachia, a part of what is now Romania. (I don't think it exists anymore. It was more or less the size of New York State.)

Vlad's father, Basarab, was next in line for the Wallachian throne, but was forced to be governor of Transylvania because there were too many relatives fighting for the same position. In 1431 he was introduced as a knight into the Royal Order of the Dragon. He then started calling himself "Dracul", which is Romanian for "dragon", and his second son, Vlad, was called "Dracula", which meant "son of the dragon".

Dracul eventually seized the throne of Wallachia when Vlad was around four years old. Around this time, the Ottoman Turks were expanding and as usual, the wonderful domino effect was taking place and everyone was basically at war with each other. When the Ottoman sultan summoned Dracul, the poor guy thought it was a call for peace and heeded his summon and foolishly brought Vlad and his younger brother with him. Upon arriving, the sultan took the two boys as hostages and forced Dracul to side with him against the White Knight, who was not a very good guy.

I don't know who the White Knight actually was, but he wanted to be King of Hungary and saw Wallachia as a stepping-stone to secure that position, so he killed Dracul, his wife, and oldest son.

While imprisoned, Vlad and his brother was tortured daily and Vlad entertained himself by watching executions from his cell window. His favorite execution style was impalement (everyone should know what that is). After he learned what happened to his family, he swore revenge. When the sultan finally released him, (it is never mentioned what became of his younger brother) he gave him an army to defeat the White Knight. This was in 1448, when Vlad was around 17 years old.

After Vlad routed the White Knight, he placed himself on the throne of Wallachia, but after three months, he was forced off. When the White Knight invaded Turkish Serbia eight years later, he was killed and Vlad once again put himself on the Wallachian throne. Since Vlad was not able to kill his mortal enemy himself, he was not a happy camper. And that was not a good thing for everyone else around him.

He took all of the upper class and their families who had sided with the White Knight, skewered the oldest, and forced the rest to build his castle. Any crime was punishable by impalement. He killed his own people, foreign dignitaries, monks, traders, et cetera and he often killed for amusement when he was bored. If they could help it, travelers steered clear of Wallachia. The Turks started calling him Vlad the Impaler.

The Turks eventually killed Vlad outside of Bucharest in battle. There is debate over his actual death. Some think that the Turks killed him. Others think that his own men killed him. He was then decapitated and his head was sent to Constantinople as proof that he was actually dead. The rest of his body was buried in a monastery near Bucharest. In 1930, archaeologists removed a stone slab over his supposed grave, but found it empty. In my own opinion, I think that the people in Bucharest did not like the fact that the Impaler was buried in their monastery, dug him up, and either burned his body, moved it somewhere else, or dumped him in a ditch somewhere. But we'll never know. Historians think that he was responsible for about 100,000 plus deaths.

Manga Boo-boos: Boris calls him (Vlad) a hero, but he didn't really do anything to make himself a hero. Technically speaking, the Turks never actually invaded Wallachia and Vlad did not set out 20,000 impaled Turks for the invading army to see. I don't know where the vampire myth originated.

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**I figure that I can get at least 2 or three chapters out of Volume 12.****JA NE! REVIEW!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Welcome to Chapter 16 of **_**Pretty in Black**_** and it's one-year anniversary!! Wow, I can't believe it: one year ago today and I only have 16 chapters! It's both a failure and an accomplishment! I had hoped to have at least 20 plus chapters after one year (the failure), but this is the longest story I've ever written (the accomplishment)!**

**The writing process took longer than expected. I had a minor writers block, but it dissipated in a short time. I've also been at Kenpo Camp all this week, helping little kids learn Kenpo (man, what a job that is!).**

**Thank you to all Reviewers!**

**KeLpIeenoch**

* * *

Pretty in Black

Chapter 16

No one expected such powerful spirits to appear in such a short time. Bathed in holy light, these Archangels were a sight to behold. These magnificent spirits had to be sure proof that if souls evolve after a certain amount of time into Seirei, then gods and angels weren't just myths. Ryu's Yamata no Orochi, as well as Kororo and Morphine also proved it.

The X-Laws called themselves the bringers of Justice, but killing Boris when he was bleeding all over the place and defenseless didn't seem like justice at all. These people seemed cold under their smiles and talk of righteousness and justice upon evildoers.

Were the X-Laws really there to help them? They said that they would protect them from Hao and his followers, hence the reason they killed Boris. Poor Boris, he couldn't have been saved; a giant sword passed through him faster than anyone could think.

Yoh's friends could tell that he severely disapproved of the X-Laws actions. The only friend who didn't disapprove was Lyserg. As far as he was concerned, killing a killer does not make you as bad as the killer himself. Everyone let their minds wrap around the concept. Rin thought that Lyserg had a fair point: the execution of a murderer would save many potential victims' lives. A life for a life.

She didn't necessarily have anything against Hao to begin with. The only thing he did to her was threaten her friends, annoy her beyond saneness with his complacency, and invade her privacy. So there never really was any reason for her to want to kill him or his followers to begin with. Unless, of course, they tried to kill her first, which was an exception to the killing rule. Now, in Boris' case, he tried to skewer her like a crab on a pick, but he and his companions didn't really imply that Hao wanted her dead. It was complicated.

That's when Zanchin, the Chinese guy, and Mohammad Tabharish, the Arab, decided to reappear. The big football guy was not with them. Judging from the way they and the X-Laws conversed, the two teams had met before. When Big Buy Bill ambushed the X-Laws with his ghostly football team. Marco drew his gun and the rest of the X-Laws followed suit, then fired their Archangels into the mass. Big Guy Bill was no match: he was lying on the ground cruelly burned and gasping for breath. Yoh stopped Marco, who was bent on ending the man's suffering.

"You're no better than Hao!" he reprimanded. "Boris is way past saving now, but it's not too late to save Big Guy Bill." Rin, Horohoro, Ryu, Lyserg and Ren watched on the sidelines to see how Marco would react, ready to help if needed, but they doubted that Yoh would need it.

Marco seemed to have trouble comprehending why Yoh would stand up for this man after he and his companions just tried to kill him. "I don't understand why you would help him. Are you on Hao's side?" Horohoro bristled.

"I'm not on anybody's side." Yoh calmly shot back. "I want to be Shaman King so I can live an easy life."

"I hope you realize that there is a war starting between good and evil and there can be no neutral observers. Eventually, you will have to choose a side. Besides, won't destroying evil make life easier?"

Yoh was unfazed by Marco's philosophy. "I don't care. I'm not interested in your war." Horohoro shifted uneasily and glanced at Rin, who shrugged. Everyone could feel the tension rising and hackles were raised on both sides.

Zanchin and Mohammad Tabharish were starting to retreat until Meene, the female X-Law, informed Marco, who then ordered their execution. Yoh jumped into action and once again accused Marco of being like Hao. Marco snapped and attacked Yoh head on with Michael, but spared his life. Harusame was broken in two. The X-Laws and Hao's minions left the small group to themselves.

* * *

Rin was glad that the whole ordeal was over. She had not been prepared for the strain the new shaman brought with them. Now she was ready to get to Patch Village and sleep for a few hours or more. Orikir was starting to complain about being hungry. Rin just rolled her eyes and commented as she normally would to the bird.

"Well, we haven't eaten in a few hours." Ryu reasoned. Everyone grunted in agreement. Amidamaru was sniveling over the once again broken Harusame and Yoh was trying to reassure him that they would get it re-forged soon.

"You didn't have to sacrifice Harusame to save Bill's life Yoh." Rin stated. "He's going to die anyway." She waved a hand towards the unconscious man to indicate his near-death condition. Kororo was gently blowing a thin layer of ice onto his face.

"He didn't deserve to be killed by people like the X-Laws. If we get him to a doctor, he'll live."

"I'm not going back into town." Ren firmly stated.

"Neither am I." Seconded Lyserg.

"Even if we did get him to a doctor, there's a big chance that he won't make it. He's too horribly burned. Kororo's cold breath can't keep him alive for long."

Yoh put his hands on his hips and thought for a few seconds. "We're close to Patch Village. We'll take him with us and they can help him. They've got all kinds of traditional craft and such."

"What?!" Not everyone was pleased with Yoh's decision.

"Yoh, he's going to be like extra cargo: completely useless! Someone's going to have to carry him and I don't think that anyone here is going to want to carry such a weight." Debated Rin.

"What else are we going to do? We can't leave him here. Why not use your horse Frost to carry him?"

"Frost is too noble of a creature to carry someone like him."

"I can carry him." Ryu volunteered.

"You sure, Ryu? He's awfully big. Rin's right about that." Yoh stated. Bason offered to carry the man but Ren wouldn't hear of it. Ryu walked over to Big Guy Bill and hesitated.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, just thinking of a good way to pick him up and carry him. I've got it. I have above average tenacity." He hoisted Bill onto his shoulders and gave the signal that he was ready to go. The small group departed from Mesa Verdede down the stairs that Zanchin and his friend claimed led to Patch Village.

* * *

The passageway was dark, and everyone was gingerly climbing down the steps in order not to trip and fall down the steep stairs and talking in hushed voices. It was a wonder that Ryu didn't fall down immediately.

Rin had no problem walking in the dark: Orikir's excellent vision was a big help in the matter. There were small, dusty shafts of light shining down from cracks in the ceiling of the cavern, and that helped the other shaman walk a little easier. She also didn't really seem to notice that it was dark to begin with. The farther they progressed, a sensation that was too great to describe, seemed to engulf her in a sweet euphoria. Everyone else's ghosts were being affected the same way, but their shamans seemed to be unaffected. She noticed this and assumed it was because no one else was integrated with his respective ghost.

As the cavern became lighter, there was no need for Orikir's vision, so she commanded him to leave her body. As soon as he disintegrated, the sensation disappeared. "It's so big." She heard Horohoro say in awe. "Look at all of the different paths."

She didn't find that tidbit of facts interesting and instead looked up towards the ceiling. Giant stalagmites hung over them in vast numbers. They reminded her of one of the blood-spikes Boris used. She shuddered and looked away. "What's the matter with him?" she asked Horohoro to find out why Ren was yelling at Big Guy Bill.

"Big Buy Bill is saying that we were led here by the Great Spirit and our true destination is not really Patch Village, but the Celestial Holy Grounds."

_The Celestial Holy Grounds. _Rin rolled the concept around in her head for a while, and then stored the phrase away for future reference. _I can't believe I missed the beginning of that. That wasn't very smart. I should have been paying closer attention to what was going on instead of looking at the landscape._ Orikir was getting ready to reply, but she quickly shut him up.

"Ren, don't force him to talk. Unless you're too blind to see, he's not going to give you anymore information than he already has." She nonchalantly scolded. Ren turned on her angrily.

"Why don't you just leave this to me? He has information we need to know, and I'm going to get it." Big Guy Bill just laughed.

"She's right." Yoh stepped in. "He's repaid us in full. Bill, what are you going to do if we leave you here?"

"I'll make it to Patch Village on my own. I'm one of Lord Hao's strongest minions. I won't die…yet…" He then passed out.

"Now we know that we were led here by the Great Spirit and our true destination is the Celestial Holy Grounds and only chosen shaman can reach it." Lyserg reviewed their new information.

"What do you want to do now?" Rin asked Yoh.

"The only thing we can do is keep going and prepare for the worst."

"Yeah! That's what I like to hear!" Horohoro cheered. "Patch Village, here we come!"

The mood lightened and everyone was eagerly moving forward to their destiny. Rin walked next to Horohoro with more bounce in her step and a smile upon her face.

_It's so nice when she smiles._ Horohoro thought.

* * *

**Just for the record: Frost is a spirit. I think that I was unclear on that at the beginning of the story.**

**I decided to re-read this on the Internet to get a refresher on what it was like. I may just do a rewrite when this is completed to fix some mistakes in the plot as it changed over time. (You must remember, this was supposed to be a oneshot, but then I kept continuing it without a clue where I wanted it to go. Since now I do, I might need to change and add some things.)**

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To be continued in September, unless I use some stuff from the anime to get this going quicker. Which I think I will.


	17. Chapter 17

**Well, school has started. I've been having A LOT of tests lately. Once every week! I never had that many last year!**

**Arigato!**

**KeLpIeenoch****- I don't know how much I've thanked you already. (I think twice.) Once more won't hurt though. (Three! That's Renny boy's number!)**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 17

The stairway passage went farther than anyone anticipated. Ultimately, after what seemed like hours of walking, the shaman decided to bed down for the night. Ryu got a fire going and everyone sat around it eating some pre-packaged food that was a bit past its prime.

"I'm tired of eating expired food." Horohoro muttered.

"I would give anything for an actual meal right about now." Lyserg added. Everyone murmured in agreement before falling silent again. No one really felt like talking anyway, that is, until a loud fart broke the silence. Yoh raised a hand sheepishly.

"Guilty." Everyone quickly scooted away from him.

"That was gross Yoh. Don't you have any control?" Ren asked disgusted.

"Sorry."

"I can't wait until we get to Patch." Rin said. "Then we can all clean up and relax for a change."

"Well, Big Guy Bill did confirm that we're extremely close to Patch Village." Ryu stated "I have a feeling that tomorrow will be better than today."

"Why don't we get some sleep?" Lyserg suggested. "Then we'll have enough strength for tomorrow's trials."

"Good idea!" Yoh enthusiastically agreed. "I, for one, am ready to sleep." His eyes closed. "Sleep sounds really good." The next thing everyone knew, Yoh was asleep. Still sitting up.

"That's amazing!" Lyserg exclaimed in wonder. "He fell asleep without missing a beat! And he's still sitting up!" (Talk about stating the obvious…cough.)

"Master Yoh has had a lot of practice." Ryu told Lyserg.

"Eh, I've seen it all before." Horohoro yawned. "Nothing special."

"Mmm-hmm" Rin yawned. The shaman went and laid down at their respective sleeping places they had set earlier and most fell asleep instantly. Yoh was left where he was.

* * *

Rin couldn't stay asleep no matter how hard she tried. Even if she did fall asleep, she was plagued by nightmarish dreams of something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. The dream itself wasn't scary, per se, it was the feeling of dread and loss that gripped her like an iron vice that scared her the most. She had had those kinds of dreams before the Shaman Tournament, but they had not bothered her like they did now. She assumed it was because she had friends that she didn't want to lose.

With a sigh, the girl threw off her blanket and dragged it with her as she went to sit by the smoldering fire in hopes of becoming drowsy enough to fall asleep for the remainder of the night. Throwing some twigs on the fire and poking at it until it became a blaze, a rumbling figure was slightly illuminated. Rin let out a small 'Eek!' before she realized that it was just Yoh snoring. He had not moved a single muscle since they had left him hours ago.

_How can he sleep like that?_ She thought about waking him up so he could properly lie down, but after fruitlessly trying to rouse him, she eventually jabbed Yoh in the forehead with her index finger, which sent him sprawling onto his back…still snoring. _That is so sad._

Wrapping the blanket around her, she stared into the fire and studied the patterns of the flames. Rin reached into a pocket on the inside of her robe and pulled out a small wrapped package. Removing the cloth revealed a decorative comb of white jade delicately carved in the likeness of a Japanese garden. It had been her mother's before she died and Rin had vague memories of it adorning Sakura's glossy black hair.

"_**Okasan!" a little Rin pleaded with her mother as she sat combing her hair. "May I please wear the comb tonight? It **_**is**_** New Years!"**_

"_**It's a very delicate comb Rin-chan. You may wear it when you're a bit older if you like." Rin stuck out her bottom lip in disappointment as she watched her mother put it into her hair.**_

"_**You look pretty Okasan."**_

* * *

"Rin. Rin? Rin!" A male voice and a jab in the shoulder jarred the sleeping girl out of her peaceful sleep and into the abyss of reality. Which seemed to happen a lot since she met Yoh and his friends.

"I was asleep." She whined.

"We can tell. You look like you've had a bad night."

"Nani?!" Rin was fully awake now. She scrambled over to her bag and pulled out a small mirror. What she saw instantly embarrassed her: her hair was a total mess, her clothes were wrinkled, and she had some dirt on her face. "Eek! Don't look at me! I'm a disgrace!" Rin madly tried to straighten her looks.

"What are you so worried about?" Orikir griped at her. "You've looked worse than this before!"

"But not in front of other people!"

A single thought ran through all of the men's heads: _Women._

"You wear boy's clothes, Rin." Horohoro pointed out.

"I know, but I try to look nice while I'm wearing them!" Ren rolled his eyes in annoyance. Ryu then decided to come to her "rescue". Encasing her hands in his, he exclaimed,

"Fear not, fair maiden! Dirt cannot mar the loveliness that has been bestowed upon you!"

There was one of those awkward silences and the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. The other males in the group sweat dropped and Rin had an expressionless look on her face before breaking out into a big smile.

"Oh, arigato, Ryu-san! See Orikir?" She turned to her spirit ally. "Unlike you, Ryu-san is a gentleman and doesn't insult ladies like me."

"Pfft. You're no lady. I've been around you long enough to know that." Orikir countered.

"C'mon. Let's keep going." Yoh announced.

"Ryu-san, you can walk next to me." Rin smiled up at him.

"I'd be honored to, milady!"

Horohoro couldn't believe that Rin would let a pervert like Ryu walk with her. Of course, from what he observed, if you do or say something nice to Rin, she lets you spend time with her. _Why do I keep forgetting that?_ As they continued on, Horohoro made the point of walking relatively close to the pair to keep an eye on them. Lyserg joined them a few minutes later, making the pair a trio, so Horohoro didn't see the need to worry as much. Ryu was telling them the story of one of his adventures back when he was a gang leader.

"Horo-kun, you're hanging back like a beaten dog. Come join us." Rin beckoned. He was all too happy to. Those ten or fifteen minutes of walking were bliss. That is, until they came upon a reservoir or something of the sort. For a while everyone just stood in silence as if trying to comprehend the situation. That is, until Ryu spoke.

"Would you call this a lake or a reservoir?"

"I say pond."

"Baka! Who cares?" It doesn't take a genius to know who said what.

"What are we going to do now?" Rin asked.

"Swim, I suppose. Hey, Amidamaru?"

"Yes, Yoh-dono?"

"Do you think you could go and see how deep the water is and all that?" Yoh requested.

"I could."

"Bason, you go as well." Said Ren.

"Yes, Bocchama."

Ryu motioned for Tokagero to join the other two ghosts. To pass the time the shaman tried to play I Spy, but when you're stuck in monotonous cave, it doesn't really work for the only thing to "I spy…" is rock, variations of rocks, and rock handing from the ceiling. Ren did not even attempt to play.

When the spirits finally returned, they reported that they saw a blue cave and a tunnel, but could not see the end of it.

"I'm not swimming that." Rin stated firmly.

"We have to. There's no other way."

"Isn't there another way?" she looked pleadingly at the spirits.

"I'm sorry Lady Rin, but there appears to be no other way." Amidamaru apologized.

Rin walked over to the edge of the water. "There has to be another way. Who knows how long the swim will be? There might not be any way to come up for air and…" She didn't have time to finish her sentence. While she was talking, Ren approached her and gave her a good shove into the water. Quickly surfacing, she struggled to get back onto land.

"Ren-baka! It's cold!" Lyserg and Horohoro helped her out and Rin fought temptation to give Ren a punch that she was sure he deserved. Instead, she was settling with sabotaging some of his precious milk when they got to Patch Village. That, or cut off his spike when he's asleep after putting sleeping powder in his milk. _That would be priceless! _She smiled as she wrung the water as best she could from her hair and clothes.

"I thought you didn't like to be dirty, so I decided to help you out some."

"Thanks." She replied.

"Come on now! Let's go!"

"Geez, Ren. You sure are an impatient little fart aren't you?" (Everyone looks up and tries to discern where the disembodied voice is coming from.)

"What?! Hey! Shut up and continue telling the story, Narrator Jai Akari-baka!"

"I'd like to see you try and make me shut up! Pffft!" (Everyone but Ren cowers in the corner chibi-style to watch, and listen to the face-off. Actually, voice-off.)

"Why don't you come down here so I can rip your voice box out!" (Ren waves his Kwan Dao around.)

(Starts sobbing.) "Ren-baka is so mean!" (Everyone hears feet running and a door slam.)

"Um…so what do we do now?" Ryu asked. "You just chased off the narrator."

"Good riddance, I say." Ren said.

"That's not a very nice thing to say Ren." Scolded Yoh.

"Huh, well, does this mean that the story is over?" Horohoro asked.

"No, you moron! We keep going on from here. We don't need her to tell our story."

"Horo-hun, you can narrate the story form now on!" Rin said hugging his arm. "You'll be good at it I know!"

"OK! Alright! Let's see…everyone, start swimming! We have a mission to fulfill!" He raised his arm into the air. Everyone moaned. Rin smiled up at him.

* * *

HOROHORO'S NARRATION 

The swim was long and hard, but we made it to land. The water was cold and we almost drowned a few times, but perseverance and hard work saw us through. Ren even screamed like a little girl when a corpse floated up next to him. HA! It was a classic moment.

"It startled me!" Ren yells at me.

"Sure it did!" I reply sarcastically. "And you call yourself tough. Sissy!"

"What did you say!"

"Sissy!"

"Ainu-baka! Die!"

"Hey! Hey! Be nice! You can kill each other when we reach Patch Village. I don't want to drag your corpses the rest of the way so you can have a proper funeral." Rin scolds at us.

My dear, sweet Rin. She is always there to offer insight and break up fights. She's the mysterious kind though. She never really told us about herself and she doesn't really talk much. I think that she was scared of us when she first met us because she didn't want to reveal that she was a shaman and kept to herself mostly. But after she met me, she began to open up and smile more. That's the power of me!

"Did you say something?" she asks me.

"No." I can tell that she doesn't believe me though.

"Hey Horo! Tell the story about the time when you fell off of the cliff and was gone for three days!" Yoh says to me.

"That story was already told. The readers already know what happened."

"Oh."

"Well, can you tell the story of what's happening now?"

"I was getting ready to, but you interrupted me."

"Sorry."

Right now, we're walking in an underground tunnel that seems to be going on for miles. We would stop and rest some, but we want to get to Patch Village as quickly as possible. I'm thankful that we have Lyserg here with us since he can figure out which way we should go. Then we reach a…dead…end…CRAP!!

"Lyserg, are we even going in the right direction?"

Lyserg is as bewildered as me. "I…it should be…the pendulum was guiding me this way, so this should be the right way…"

"Then what's this doing here!" I point at the wall that is blocking our path.

"I don't know! I've told you before, I don't know what Patch Village looks like, and so I can only use other shamans' ki as a guide. I've been locking on to the strongest and largest source for a while and guiding off of that."

Rin stepped closer to Lyserg and asked him quietly, "Could we have missed a hidden side tunnel or something?" Lyserg didn't look up to meet her eyes.

"Impossible. If there were a side tunnel that we should have gone down, I would have sensed it. I'm sorry about all of this you guys."

"It's alright Lyserg-chan!" I cringe every time Ryu does that.

"Well, let's go back and see anyway." Yoh suggested.

"Alright."

We all turn around only to discover that _another_ wall appeared out of nowhere leaving us…trapped.

"The…tunnel…somebody…took…the…tunnel…"

"It's probably an illusion." Ren said, and then turned to me. "You. Run at it at full speed and see if you can pass through it."

"What makes you think I'd do something like that?! Rin?" Rin walked away from where we all stood and went over to the wall and seemed to be studying it closely. She placed a hand on the wall and leaned into it. The rest of us just stood silent and waited to see what would happen. Pacing back and forth, she tapped at the wall in several places and kicked at the base a few times before tucking her hands into her sleeves and returning to us with a contemplative look on her face.

"It's real. I couldn't sense any shamanic influence in it. I also looked as best I could to see if it wasn't a trap door of some kind, but I couldn't see any indication that it was. America is one strange country." She sat down in a huff. "What a thing: appearing walls. Ridiculous. Yet such a good idea."

That's when the freakiest thing happened: a white light surrounded us and before we knew it we were separated from each other. At least from what I saw, I don't know what everyone else saw.

When I woke up, woke up is as best as I can describe it, I was alone. I can only hope that Rin is okay.

* * *

RIN'S POV 

When the white light disappeared, I was lying on a dirt road looking up at the sky. Getting up, I saw that I was alone and in some strange place. It was a town, but it looked like it had been abandoned for some time. The houses looked to be decaying. I was beginning to get scared that this was my entire fault. I shouldn't have messed with that stupid wall!

Sitting on my knees, I felt tears stinging my eyes. It felt so strange to be alone again after all the time I spent with Horo-kun and his friends. The feeling was unbearable. I pushed back the tears knowing that crying wasn't going to solve anything. The best thing to do now is to find out where I am and find the others. I got up and started to walk around to see what I could find. After a few minutes, I'm sure it was a few minutes, I saw something that almost made my heart stop:

Horo-kun…dead?

His snowboard was broken into pieces and his body looked to have been a practice dummy for a swordsman. I ran over to him and cradled him in my arms. Burying my face into his beautiful blue hair, I cried my heart out.

* * *

**I kinda got tired of typing this chapter and wanted to publish it, so I leave you with a cliffhanger. Do you like?**

**I've always wanted to talk to the characters in that manner…**

**ANYWAY! Review like you've never reviewed before!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Me: Ok, I'm taking over again!**

**Horo: But I was having so much fun!**

**Me: Tough beans. You're too hard to control. You might say something you regret later. Be thankful. Also, your narration was to give me a break. I'll show Ren whose boss! Meanie…**

**Horo: …**

**Thank you!**

**Mizula****- Ren's mean like that. I'm gonna get him back later somehow. I need to think how.

* * *

**

Pretty in Black

Chapter 18

While Yoh and Horohoro, Ren and Ryu were meeting back up after the King of Spirit's blessing, Rin was just waking up from what seemed like an eternity in Hell. Purposely rolling off of the sleeping platform onto her hands and knees, she tried to recover from her shock. Shakily, she stood up and took in her surroundings: the room was scantily furnished with a table and chair, a sleeping platform for three people, and a wall hanging, and the window faced a great white beam that seemed to be coming out of the ground, and Rin found that she could not look at it without becoming dizzy.

Looking away and moving towards the door, she noticed that the sleeping mat across from her was halfway off of the platform and a broken bowl was on the floor. _I wonder who was in here with me._ But it was just a passing thought. She left the room and turned left. A few steps down the hallway, she bumped into a figure leaning heavily on the wall. Not literally, of course.

"Lyserg-kun! Lyserg-kun, are you alright?" She placed a concerned hand on his shoulder only to have it shoved away. Lyserg turned around to face her and she saw that his face held a haunted look and his red-rimmed eyes showed that he had been crying.

"Oh, it's just you. You're awake. I thought you were going to sleep longer." He almost sounded relieved.

"Lyserg-kun, are you alright?" Rin asked again. "You look pale." He breathed heavily a few times before replying.

"Yeah. I don't really feel very well though. I was going to go out to get some fresh air."

"Do you mind if I came with you?"

"I don't know where anyone else is." He added, almost to himself.

"That's alright if you don't know where anyone else is, we can find them. This place can't be all that big. Let's go." Rin took his hand and steered him out of the dark hall to the light of outside.

Rin soon saw how wrong she was when she suggested that Patch Village wasn't that big. Layers upon layers of adobe buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, and over all of this organized chaos, the white beam of the King of Spirits extended into the "sky", which was basically a giant cave ceiling.

It was in the shopping center where she lost track of Lyserg, too busy looking at the sights to remember to keep an eye on him. For some reason though, she wasn't worried about him. She felt as if he'd be all right. Purchasing a small bag of rice crackers at a small stand to snack on, she sat down on the edge of a fountain in the plaza to relax some.

* * *

"Do you hear the noise from the plaza?" Chocolove asked. "Asakura Hao just showed up. His team is the favorite of the Three Forces."

"The Three Forces?" Yoh, Horohoro, Ren and Ryu wanted to know.

"The Three Horses." Ren stabbed him with his Kwan Dao.

Holding his nose in pain Chocolove explained. "Basically there are three main teams in the Tournament: Hao's group, the X-Laws and Grandhara. X-Laws and Grandhara were both created to oppose Hao. A smart strategy is to position yourself under one of them. Most of the competitors are in one group or another. If you're not on a team, you're disqualified."

"Are you saying that if we don't position ourselves under either the X-Laws, Hao, or Grandhara we're disqualified?!" Everyone just about had a heart attack.

"Oh, sorry." Chocolove apologized. "What I meant was that you need to be in a team of three in order to compete. That's the rule of the second part of the tournament. You fight in teams."

Everyone sighed in relief. "How do you know this?" Ryu asked.

"Information is my weapon. It applies to everything."

"Teams of three, huh?" Ren pondered. "That settles it. Chocolove and Horohoro are going to be on my team."

"…"

"…"

"EH?"

"I DON"T WANT TO BE ON A TEAM WITH A STRANGER!"

"Too bad. I'll do the fighting and you two watch."

"But…but…but…" _I wanted Rin to be on my team!_

"Now we need a team name. Team the Ren!"

"That's some pretty bad English usage." Chocolove got stabbed once again and fell to the ground clutching his bleeding nose in pain.

"I wasn't going to join you unless Lyserg was with me anyway." Ryu said.

"Then you'd better start finding him. Unlike you, I don't have to worry about being disqualified." Ren left the group to go wherever a Ren goes.

* * *

Rin slipped out of the plaza as fast as she could when Hao showed up. She didn't want to come face-to-face with him and risk a confrontation, which she knew he'd enjoy and most definitely win. She also didn't want him pressuring her to come to his side and help him create his shaman-only world, not that he ever gives you a fair choice: join, and expect to die for the "great cause", or not join him and die by his hand. Either way, it ends in death.

She was thankful not to run into Hao, but she did run into two of his followers she saw come into the plaza with him. _They must have followed me out._

Before her stood two Japanese girls that looked enough alike to guess that they were related. "Matsumura…Rin?" The youngest-looking one asked somewhat timidly.

Rin looked at them suspiciously. "Yes?"

"See? I told you it was her. She looks just like we thought she would." The girl whispered to the older one, who nodded and stepped closer to Rin.

"I'm Mitoko. That is my sister Yayoi." She pointed to the younger one. "We heard you were here and, well, wanted to meet you."

Rin was still suspicious. "Why?"

Yayoi piped up. "We heard stories about you when we were younger and always had the dream that one day we'd meet you."

"I don't understand."

Mitoko and Yayoi looked at each other and wondered about how to tell her. "We're Matsumura's too. Our father was your father's brother. We're cousins."

* * *

**It's a dysfunction palooza. I had to introduce Mitoko and Yayoi sometime, so here they are. I thought that this would be a good cliffhanger for you.**

**Sorry this took a long time to get up. School and other things have been taking up my time and I hadn't had any inspiration or motivation to write. I'm exempt from semester exams, so my Christmas Break starts two days early and I was able to finish this! It's a good feeling.**

**Merry Christmas! I hope everyone's is enjoyable! God bless all of you lovely readers!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Man, I'm so sorry that this took so freakin' long to get up! Besides school and bad weather, the power stations where I live have been fried so we were basically like refugees for a rutting week. If you've ever been without a home for what seems like an eternity, I now know how you feel. It's a bad feeling.** **My bones have become so heavy...**

**Anyway, I hope you like what's there of this chapter.**

**Reviews**

**Iliada****- This is for Chapter 17. I apologize for not putting your name up on Chapter 18. I lost track of everybody that had reviewed.**

**KeLpIeenoch****- Thank you very much. I hope you had a nice Christmas/New Years! (I know…it's reeeeaaalllyy late.)**

**Chandler****-Thank you for the review. I'm glad you like what's there of the revised version. I will try my best!

* * *

**Pretty in Black

Chapter 19

Rin felt as if a boulder was dropped on her head. _Cousins?_ She didn't think that any of the other Matsumura's cared enough to talk about her. Rin had so many questions forming in her head it made her dizzy.

"Rin-chan, are you alright? We can call you Rin-chan can't we?" Yayoi asked.

"Yayoi-chan, wait a while to call her –chan. She doesn't really know us." Mitoko said, glancing at Rin.

"I know that, but since we're cousins, I figured it'd be okay!"

"I-it's alright. I just didn't think that I'd meet any family members here."

"Our parents didn't want us to come, but Hao-sama showed up and said that he'd be able to get us into the Tournament and we'd be able to meet you." Mitoko explained.

This day was getting stranger by the second. "Hao?" Mitoko nodded. Yayoi looked up at her older sister.

"Hao-sama appeared one day when we were home by ourselves after school and said that he was collecting followers to join him. Said that our dreams would come true and the world would become a better place to live if he became Shaman King. I don't really know about the "world becoming a better place" thing, but we we're enticed by the "dreams will come true" part, and so far, they have." she explained.

Rin took in her cousin's explanation before asking, "So you don't intend on winning the Shaman crown?"

Mitoko and Yayoi were taken back by this question. That had never occurred to them. They had just wanted to see the world and see if Rin was like she was in the stories.

"Do you?" Yayoi finally asked.

"That's why I came here to begin with."

"Who are you teamed with?"

"Teamed with?"

"For the next part of the Tournament, you have to be in a team of three or else you'll be disqualified."

Rin did not know that. She wondered if Horohoro and everyone else had teamed up already. "No, I'm not. I was going to find the ones I traveled with when you caught up with me; but I don't know if they've already teamed up or not."

"Oh! Please be with us!" Yayoi pleaded. "We can come with you and help to find them if you will team up with us!"

"I really have to find my friends before I can team up with you. You can come with me and help me to find them if you want."

"That'll be fine." Mitoko said. "Who are they? What do they look like?"

Rin explained to Mitoko and Yayoi who she came to America with, and they started off.

"Asakura Yoh, huh?" Mitoko pondered. "Hao-sama has talked about him. He seems to be obsessed with him."

"Really." Rin was not surprised. After all, Hao _had_ bugged Yoh and his group for a while now. Mitoko did not seem to know that.

"Uh-huh. Hao-sama wants him to become stronger for some reason. Yayoi and I don't know why though. Hao-sama only tells what he's planning to the senior, most trusted of his followers. More specifically Luchist, Opacho, Hanagumi and Tsukigumi. What everyone else knows is based on guesswork."

Rin silently took in this information. "You realize that when we find them, you can't let them know that you're with Hao. In fact, it'll be better if you don't approach them at all. They don't like Hao, so keep your distance."

"Your friends?"

"Of course."

"Is that them?" Yayoi pointed to a small group seated in front of the Patch Cafe.

It was. Everyone seemed to be there: Horohoro, Yoh, Ryu, Anna…Anna? Rin about choked. What was _Anna_ going here? Rin turned away and then looked back. No, she wasn't imagining it. The girl sitting in the Patch Café with Yoh was _definitely_ Anna. She probably came to continue Yoh's training program. Poor lad…

"Yes. Wait for me in the main plaza. I'll meet you there in a few minutes. Make sure that Hao is gone."

"Okay!" Yayoi squeaked. Rin bustled over to where her friends sat and saw that Manta and Tamao was with them as well.

"Hey!" She greeted her friends who cheerfully greeted her back.

"Hey! Rin! You're back! Where were you?" Horohoro asked.

"At first I was in the room where my shaman official put me after the Great Spirit's blessing with Lyserg, apparently we have the same representative, then we went to find you all. That's about it." Ryu perked up at Lyserg's name.

"Lyserg! You were with my boy?! Where is he?!" 'Obsessive' was the word that came to the girl's mind at that moment.

"I lost him on the way over here. He didn't come back?"

"Nope." Yoh shook his head. Ryu, by this time, was sobbing. "I'm sure he's alright."

"It's okay, Ryu. It'll all work out." Yoh said in attempt to comfort Ryu, who just continued sobbing before standing up and declared that he was off to go find Lyserg.

"Good luck with that." Anna said nonchalantly to his back.

"Who is this?" Rin pointed to the unfamiliar face under the big fro-like hair that had surprisingly sat quietly while the others talked.

"I'm Chocolove, and I'm a comedian! Want to hear a joke? An oyster comes across a shark…" The joke was abruptly cut off by Horohoro's snowboard in his face. Chocolove clutched his face in pain. Rin didn't have time to think about it.

"Are any of you on a team yet?"

Yoh spoke first, carefully choosing his words. He didn't want to suffer Anna's wrath. "Ryu and Faust VIII are teamed with me. Anna said it would be good to have a doctor with us." Rin remembered seeing the creepy German doctor at the orientation at the air base in Tokyo. She knew him by Yoh and Manta's description.

Horohoro frowned. "That idiot Ren _drafted_ me onto his team along with Chocolove. I wanted to wait until you were with us to pick teams, but you know Ren. He didn't want to be disqualified. Ryu wanted to be on a team with Lyserg, naturally. He loves that kid too much if you ask me. What are you going to do Rin?"

"I've already gotten an offer from two girls I met a while back. I'll most likely be with them. I just wanted to know if any of you were on a team yet before I agreed to anything. Anna-san, when did you get here?"

Anna sipped her tea before answering. "A while back. We came by Manta's helicopter." She left it at that.

"Oh. Well, I'm going to go and find those two girls now and tell them that I'll join their team. I'll see everyone later." Rin turned to walk off.

"Hey Rin, can I come with you?" Horohoro asked.

"I suppose. If you want to."

* * *

"So, what are these girls like?" Horohoro asked Rin as they walked down to the plaza. "What're their names?" 

"Well, they're Japanese, like me, obviously."

"Obviously."

"They are also sisters. Matsumura Mitoko and Yayoi. Mitoko is older, but they're both younger than me."

"Ah. I see. Are they pretty?" That question earned him a soft slap on the ear.

"Why would you think that I'd have an opinion on that?"

"I was just asking! There was no harm in asking!"

"I suppose they're pretty for their ages." She said after a while.

"Uh-huh."

"So, what is everyone doing tonight? I was thinking that maybe we could explore around the lake and see where the…"

"Uh-huh."

"Are you even listening to me? What are you thinking about?"

"Uh-huh."

Rin slapped him on the ear a little harder. "You're not listening!"

"I was too!"

"What did I just say?"

"Uh, um, well, you we're talking about…" Horohoro hung his head in defeat. Rin laughed.

"I was wondering what everyone was doing tonight. I thought that we could all do something to celebrate the fact that we made it to Patch Village in one piece and didn't lose anyone."

Horohoro thought about this and thought that it sounded like a good idea. Yeah, it'd be good to spend some quality time with his friends and get to know everyone a little better. Barring Ren, that is. Once you've met a Ren, you basically know everything there is to know about it in the first hour or so. If you survive that first hour, that is. It's a difficult process of getting to know one. Rens are very touchy creatures. Two of their six ends are pointy and sharp.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'didn't lose anyone'?"

Rin put her hands up defensively. "I didn't mean anything by it, I'm just saying."

"But, lose who? Ryu? Lyserg? Yoh? Actually, I can imagine Yoh falling asleep in some corner somewhere and being forgotten. You don't mean me do you? I got lost in the mountains for three days! I broke both of my legs! Bluebell found me and so did you, eventually! You didn't give up on me!"

Rin stopped and turned to face Horohoro. "No, I didn't give up on you. If it had happened a few years ago, I probably would have left you to fend for yourself. I wouldn't have thought it important enough."

Horohoro stared at Rin in disbelief. _What does she mean by that? Is there something that she hasn't told us_ "Rin?"

"It's not important." She looked away.

"It sounds pretty important to me. Is there something that you want to say? Something to get off of your chest?"

_Yes, there is!_ Rin wanted to scream. _I lied to you and Yoh and everyone else who trusted and cared enough for me to become my friends! I just wanted to be safe from the fate my family was bound to!_ Rin opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it, weighing the pros and cons of telling Horohoro the cold, hard truth. Horohoro, waiting for her to speak, pulled her into a close hug, which, frankly, surprised her.

"You don't have to tell me now if you don't want to. Do things on your own time and don't worry about things you can't control. What will happen will happen. Whatever that is." That had to be the wisest thing she ever heard him say. "Come on. Let's go find your friends."

"Um, you see, that's the thing about it." Rin pulled away. "Those two girls I met, they're my cousins." That, at least, was something to get off of the chest.

Horohoro took this information in and tried to remember if she talked about her family when they were coming to Patch Village, only to realize that she never even mentioned them. Not even her parents. Come to think of it, there were a lot of things about Rin he didn't know about. Had he ever thought about that before? He couldn't remember.

"Uh…huh…" that's all he could say since nothing else came to mind. Horohoro came out of his thoughts at Rin tugging at his arm, telling him to keep walking.

"So how old are they?"

"Too young for you."

* * *

"Rin-chan! There she is!" Yayoi ran up to her older cousin while Mitoko hung back when noticing that Rin was not alone. She remembered that Rin had said that her friends had no love of Hao or his followers. _So why is he here?_ She asked herself. 

"Yayoi! Come here!" she ordered. Yayoi stopped and hesitantly obeyed her sister. She wasn't one to be disobeyed when she used just her plain name. Mitoko wasn't going to take any chances with this boy. She even started to have her doubts about Rin, but pushed them from her mind. If Hao-sama were right, Rin would be with them soon. Mitoko wanted to tell Rin herself, but Hao-sama wanted her to figure it out herself.

"Yayoi-san, Mitoko-san, this is Horohoro-san. One of the one's I traveled with."

Mitoko waved her hand at Yayoi signaling her to stay put and she went up to Horohoro and looked him up and down before shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you." She forced a smile and turned to Yayoi. "Yayoi-chan, say hello."

"Hi." Yayoi quietly greeted, noticing Mitoko's stiffness around the new boy. "Rin-chan, are you able to stay with us?"

Rin smiled down at her younger cousin. "Yes." She answered simply.

Yayoi beamed.

* * *

**Sorry for the crappy ending. I just wanted to get this finished and posted while I was thinking about it.**


	20. Chapter 20

**I'm debating whether or not to keep the tournament in Patch Village, like in the anime, or have them go to the Island, like in the manga. I want things to be different, but keep familiar things in. I might just combine the two together somehow. I'll think of something cool to do.**

**Oh my, I'm so sorry. I changed Mitoko's name to Minami. I don't know how or why that happened. So if there was any confusion, I apologize. Mitoko is actually Minami. I made sure to change that.**

**Thank you!**

**Iliada & ****KeLpeenoch- Ahh...your reviews make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.****

* * *

**Pretty in Black

Chapter 20

"You did well. Thank you."

"Thank you, Hao-sama. If I may ask, why exactly do you want her on our team? Is this a plan to make Yoh-sama get stronger?"

Hao smiled. "In a way. You already know that 1,000 years ago, your ancestors promised to fight with me in the shaman fight so I could become Shaman King."

"Of course, Hao-sama, but it was only the men who would fight. Not the women. So Rin-san would be free of this duty. Why put her into the middle of this? Why not get a Matsumura man instead?"

Hao laughed merrily, as if it was all a good joke. "Mitoko, you should know. I've told you before. Your family left that way of life. They don't want to be shaman. They're slowly losing their sixth-sense. It's all hocus-pocus to them now. Rin is the only one left who believes. On the other hand, her brother…"

"Hao-sama, her brother is dead."

Hao glared fiercely at Mitoko, who quickly realized her mistake of interrupting the boy who could kill her without second thought, averted her eyes. "I am _quite_ aware that her dear brother is dead! If he _were_ alive he'd be here now! After Yoshiyo died, he'd have been the head of the family, but he had to go and die as well!" Hao shook his head. "Such a pathetic loss." He looked at Mitoko again. "You have to make sure that Rin knows what she has to do. If she doesn't already know, then you need to tell her, no matter how much you don't want to. If she wants to keep family tradition, she'll have to accept no matter what."

"I will, Hao-sama." Mitoko bowed deeply and turned to go.

"And Mitoko, don't interrupt me again." Hao said good-naturedly. Mitoko nodded.

* * *

Faust _was_ creepy. The creepiest person Rin had met so far, with the purple discoloration under his eyes, which often held a maniacal look, the skeleton he kept under his raincoat, no legs, and the flow of the morphine he constantly pumped into his bloodstream via IV. If Rin had grown up in a technology-influenced world, she would have said that he looked like a mad scientist from an old horror flick, though she did agree that he looked mad nonetheless. 

That's what she thought as everyone sat around a table in the Patch Café. Yayoi sat on her right and Horohoro on her left. Faust sat across from her in his wheelchair. From what she did know about him, he was a doctor. He sure didn't _look_ like a doctor and she was sure that she wouldn't want to be his patient. Ever.

Yayoi chattered happily. Mitoko had asked Rin to look after her while she ran some errands. Rin was more than happy to. Finally being able to be around one of her own blood was rather unbelievable. Never in a thousand years would she have thought that this would ever happen. It's funny what happens when you least expect it.

Everyone now knew that Yayoi and Mitoko were her cousins and welcomed them into the group. Ren and Anna were indifferent as usual.

They had just gotten back from looking at the Shaman Fight roster to see who would be fighting whom, and Ryu was still crying over Lyserg. Faust hadn't helped the matter by stating that they would have to fight Lyserg eventually if he hadn't died after the Great Spirit's blessing.

"Thanks a lot Faust, you just increased out chances of getting a migraine by 100 percent." Horohoro had mumbled to himself. Thankfully, no one had gotten a migraine as a result. Yet.

Team the Ren was up first, and would be fighting against Tsuchigumi and everyone was excited to see it.

"Mitoko!" Yayoi exclaimed as her sister walked in and pulled up a chair and plopped down into it.

"Yayoi, are you having fun?"

"Yes! Rin-chan's friends are so nice! Can we see the fight with them?" Mitoko nodded. Yayoi was delighted and hugged her spirit ally in delight.

"Yayoi-chan, your spirit is so cute!" Tamao complimented as she scratched it behind the ear. The little kitsune chirped with pleasure at the new source of attention.

"Her name is Pentenshi. I got her a few years ago, about the same time Mitoko got Hono'o."

"Hono'o?" Horohoro leaned forward in his seat to get a better look at Yayoi.

"The snake." Mitoko said wearily, tired from running errands. "He's probably in some shady spot cooling off somewhere. This heat is too much for him."

"That's kind of contradictory considering his name means 'flame'." Manta observed.

Mitoko just shrugged. "That's his name. It's what he introduced himself as. Like Pentenshi."

"That's not contradictory. Kitsune are supposed to be tricksters. It's what they are famous for." Said kitsune was licking a sweet provided by Yayoi. "They also like sweet things."

"Who doesn't?" Yoh said merrily.

"I want some hot spring buns." Horohoro said.

"This is America. They don't have any hot spring buns." Ren said.

Horohoro snarled at him. "They have everything else. Why not hot spring buns? There are thousands of people from different cultures. They should have all sorts of foodstuffs for them. The Patch spends too much money on things anyway. It's no wonder they're poor."

"I saw a stall with hot spring buns a while ago." Rin said.

"You're always spoiling him!" Ren scolded. "He's about to fight! He shouldn't be eating hot spring buns! You're treating him like a ten year old!"

"I'm ten years old!" Yayoi announced.

"Ren, if I were your wife, I'd poison your milk!"

"If I were your husband, I'd drink it!"

"Mink it!" Chocolove crowed, somehow dressed as a mink.

"AWFUL!" Ren stabbed him in the nose. Chocolove screamed in pain. As usual, everyone let them fight for a while before attempting to break it up. Ryu even got up from his crying to help.

_Sigh. They're so carefree. No wonder Hao-sama is fed up with it._ Mitoko thought, trying to block the noise from her mind. _Rin, you're nothing like in the stories.

* * *

_"OK! HERE ARE THE RULES! SO SHUT UP AND LISTEN!" Radim loudly announced.

ONE: THESE ARE 3-ON-3 BATTLES WITH NO TIME LIMIT.

TWO: SPIRIT ALLIES ARE ALLOWED. (_duh_…Everyone thought.)

THREE: A TEAM LOSES WHEN NONE OF THE MEMBERS CAN OVERSOUL, A MEMBER LEAVES THE FIGHTING AREA, OR THE TEAM DECIDES TO CONTINUE.

"Does he have to yell it?" Mitoko groaned and threw a nearby can at the announcer like everyone else was. Radim just laughed at the attempt.

"DON'T EVEN TRY TO THROW THINGS AT ME! AN OVERSOUL FORCE FIELD SURROUNDS THE FIGHTING AREA! HA! ONE MORE THING! NO SPECTATORS ARE ALLOWED TO HELP OR INTERFERE IN THE FIGHTS!"

"Augh! Shut up already!" Someone yelled.

"SHUT UP YOURSELF! ON THIS SIDE OF THE ARENA, TEAM THE REN! ON THE OTHER SIDE IS TEAM TSUCHIGUMI! THAT'S 'EARTH GROUP' FOR THOSE IDIOTS WHO DON'T KNOW!"

"Hey! That's BoZ!" Yoh said.

"What morons." Anna stated.

Team the Ren was dumbstruck. "Those guys? What a joke!"

"Crapcrapcrap! Those are Hao's people!" Chocolove freaked.

"Ptah. I'll let you fight them. They're too small for me." Ren spat.

"What!"

"I'll fight the leader instead."

"No one agreed on that!"

"FIGHT!" Radim interrupted.

BoZ immediately attacked Chocolove with their Chimi Chimi Moryo. "What!" Chocolove activated his Oversoul in the swarm of little bird and insect-like figures and whacked them away, surprised that it was easier than he thought. Mic crunched on the Chimi Chimi Moryo with gusto.

Ren and Horohoro hung back to wait for Chocolove to defeat BoZ, and were impressed by the comedian's speed and power.

"I'd say he's doing pretty good." Manta said, watching from the stadium seats. "His jokes may be bad and annoying, but he's a good fighter."

"He's alright," Mitoko stated dully, "but Team the Ren is going to push their luck if they keep fighting like that."

Manta turned his head to look confused at Mitoko. "What do you mean by that? Aren't they doing great for only one person fighting right now?"

"Maybe." She didn't offer any more of her opinion on Team the Ren. _They most likely won't survive Tecolote's calavera dolls.

* * *

_**Ugh…even typing Radim's voice is giving me a headache. I know it was probably annoying to read it, as it was to write it. ****I had to put in the conversation about Horohoro wanting hot spring buns from the anime. I don't know what they taste like or anything, so if they are sweet, then his comment fits in perfectly with the conversation. If not, then I guess he had a sudden craving for them.**

**If there are any questions concerning **_**Pretty in Black,**_** something you don't understand, either review or PM me and I'll be happy to answer them if I can without revealing too much of the surprises to come. I do not wish for any sort of confusion, so don't hesitate to ask. Questions and answers will be posted at the beginning of each chapter.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Ok, I'm back. Finally. My computer has become more suicidal than normal. It's almost like Marvin the Robot from Hitchhikers Guide from the Galaxy: "Life, don't talk to me about life." Come to think of it, I think I'll name it Marvin. It's fitting.**

**This chapter is the descent into darkness.**

**Reviewers: I hope I got everything right**

**KeLpIeenoch****- Yeah, Hao is, I guess you would say, "playing" with her. I would call it, well, playing, dang, you've won this round. **

**Iliada****- Here's a more Horohoro-based chapter.**

**Mizula****- It looks like a crossover is in order. To wait for the rest of the manga to come out would drag this story out longer than I'm planning to have it drag. The anime would be easier than both of the earlier options, but the manga has such cooler things going on that the anime just doesn't have. Soooo….crossover. Help from the reviewers would be very helpful to keep me kicked in the right direction. Thanks for the overview of the options with an opinion other than mine. It helped a lot.**

* * *

Pretty in Black

Chapter 21

Horohoro was ecstatic. They had won their first match, he had gotten an interview, though everyone else said it wasn't legitimate since he didn't fight at all, and he was going to get his long-awaited hot spring buns, courtesy of Rin. The only problem now was he didn't know where she was. Manta told him that Mitoko had taken her somewhere to talk to her. He frowned. That was at least an hour ago. _I guess that's how girls are. They like to talk. I know for a fact that Pirika can talk for hours on end._

Yayoi had offered him her puzzle box to play with while he waited, and when he hesitated, she showed him how easy it was to do: she opened it in less than fifteen seconds, and laughed at him when it took him that hour to fail miserably. The kitsune cackled at him. "Don't worry." Yayoi said. "You'll get it one of these days. If you keep trying, the box will open for you and you'll be able to see what's inside."

"What's inside?" he had asked her. She just smiled and put a finger to her lips to indicate that it was a secret and skipped off.

The gang had made the Patch Café their new haunt since hanging out at the dorms proved to be boring and isolated. At least here they would be able to see everything that was happening as it happened. Plus, you can get something to eat or drink as you watch life in Patch Village go on.

_Sigh._ It was getting boring. Horohoro would have been happy just to have Chocolove crack off some bad jokes and Ren stab him, but whatever caused the illusion of a sun in the sky was starting to set and he wouldn't have been able to see much anyway. "Hey, Yayoi, do you know where your sister and Rin went?"

Yayoi stopped her giggling and looked back at him. "The dorms…I think. Oneechan wanted to talk to Rin-chan. Ooo! Can I come with you?"

Horohoro was amazed that she picked up on things so quickly. "Uh, yeah, sure. If you want to."

"Oh, yay!" she hopped out of her chair and scuttled to Horohoro's side. Grabbing his hand, she started towards the location of the dorms. "This will be fun! We'll have a lot of fun together!"

"Wha? We're just walking to the dorms! How is that going to be fun?"

"We can make a game of it!"

"What kind of game?" he asked suspiciously.

"A fun one!"

_Oh, yeah. This will be fun._ He thought sarcastically. _Wait, did I just say fun? Arrgh! Now she's got me saying "fun"! This will be amusing, pleasurable, enjoyment. What are some more synonyms of fun?_

"What did you have in mind?"

Yayoi thought. Her eyes lit up as she thought of something. "I spy!" The image of everyone sitting in the cave playing I spy crept into Horohoro's skull.

"Al-right."

"Now let's spy! Umm…them!"

"On people?!"

"Of course! That's the point of I spy!"

_What have I gotten myself into?_"So you understand what I'm saying don't you?" Mitoko asked Rin, who just nodded slowly.

* * *

"Yes. I do." She looked up. "I understand perfectly. It was bound to happen sooner or later. I'll take care of things from now on. You don't have to do anymore Mitoko. You can go now." Mitoko nodded and left the room. Rin waited until she was gone and sunk onto the sleeping platform and stared into the fading light. She didn't know how long she sat like that, alone with her thoughts, until she was awakened by the patter of feet. It was darker and voices came in from the hall.

"If you want to know, she's in our room. Come on Yayoi, let's get ready for bed."

Rin's breath caught when Horohoro came into the room. "Hey, you alright? How long have you been sitting there?" Rin got up and rested her forehead on his chest and wrapped her arms around him. Needless to say, Horohoro was surprised by this. Rin _never_ hugged anyone. She would lean her head or touch you on the shoulder to show a small affection, but she never got too close. He returned the gesture and rested his head on hers. "Do you want to tell me what's wrong?"

He felt her head nod a yes.

"I've been horrible." Came the muffled reply. "Absolutely terrible. Looking back on it, it wasn't the best thing to do. I should have stayed home."

"You don't want to be in the shaman fight anymore?"

"I want to be in it, but nothing good will come out of it."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The best thing about not having friends is that there is no one to leave you."

"I'm your friend aren't I? What about Yoh, Ryu and everyone else?"

"Of course; but it's not exactly what it looks like."

Horohoro made her look up at him. "Ok, you're going to sit down and tell me everything from day one. No secrets, nothing held back."

"It won't be that simple." she whispered. "It's a long tale to tell."

"If it takes all night, it will be worth it." Rin sat down on the bed and hesitantly started.

"You already know that Mitoko and Yayoi are my cousins, and we don't have the same last name although their father and my father were brothers. Now that I think of it, they've never told you their last name: Matsumura. I've told you from the beginning that mine is Akari. It's Matsumura." Before Horohoro could reply, Rin continued. "Anna figured it out a few days after I started staying at Funbari Inn. She's one of those people who can see right through you. Yoh's like that too, so it was extremely hard to keep the façade secret for too long around them. That's why I spent most of my time away from them in my room. Anna has been a saint about keeping that secret all of this time. Secrets are always safe with her."

"Go on."

"My parents and brother died when I was ten; my father of blood poisoning, my brother of pneumonia, my mother of a broken heart. My father, Yoshiyo, was the head of our family. You have to know what my family was like before _it_ happened. We never lived by anything modern. Everything was by tradition. It held us together, brought us closer to nature and to each other. We could focus on the simple pleasures of life without all of the distractions. It was serene." Her eyes glassed over into a faraway look. "They called me "Little Bell"; because of my name.

Then one day they didn't want to live that way anymore. They wanted to modernize, so they left and took their children with them, willing or unwilling. I, father, mother and Tsuji, that was my brother's name, stayed behind. Eventually the few servants we had left shortly afterward. We made do with what we had. Father and Tsuji were always working hard to make sure mother and I were comfortable and safe. Naturally, mother and I took care of the house. Even though everyone else was gone, I was happy in the safe little world we had created. Tsuji was my playmate whenever he could spare the time, and we had parents who loved us. When they died, that world was shattered."

"So that's why you wear black?"

Rin looked down at her clothing. "I knew that black kimonos are the most formal worn by married women at their children's weddings, but I didn't care. Black reminds me how dark everything is in my life." She sighed. "Now everything has become darker."

The cold tone that came into her voice just now sent a cold wave through Horohoro, so he knew that he wasn't going to like what was coming next.

"So I became the head of the Matsumura family. It was somewhat forced upon me, but it was my decision. I sent out letters, but either no one responded, or they came back saying that they didn't want to return. I became angry and cut them off; cut myself of from the world, and narrow-mindedly refused to see anything else around me." She shrugged. "So I came here when I remembered that my brother was training for the shaman fight and I had always wanted my own destiny when I was little." She laughed. "I was always jealous that Tsuji had a path set for him and he knew where he was going in life: he was going to be a shaman and fight in the fights. I wanted that, but I wasn't going to be allowed to. After he died, I took his destiny and made it my own. I thought I was fighting for us, but I learned later that I was fighting for _him_."

That cold wave became colder when Horohoro suddenly knew who she was talking about. "_Hao_? You're fighting for _him?_"

"I have nothing against him other than his being extremely annoying and arrogant. He's done nothing to me, so why should I hate him? I have no reason too."

Horohoro couldn't believe this. Out of the millions of things in this world, she had to team up with _Hao_ of all people!

"But why?" He was starting to get a little angry, and Rin saw that. "You don't have to! He's a self-absorbed, murderous, scheming jerk!"

Rin stood up. "I _have_ to! I've spent my whole life angry at the rest of my family and saw them as oath breakers! If I don't do this one thing, what do you think they'll think of me when they find out? Especially Yayoi and Mitoko? They've grown up with stories about me and how I've remained true despite every obstacle thrown in my way! Backing out now will just weaken my image as head of the family! They'll lose the rest of what little respect they have for me!" It was her turn to become a little angry as well. She didn't want to go with Hao, but she had no other choice. In a manner of speaking, it was a matter of politics.

"I'm sorry Horohoro. This is my choice. If you and everyone else want to hate me for it, I'm fine with that. That's why I said when you don't have any friends, there's no one to leave you, and you don't have to leave anyone else. You remain the same. Unchanged. That's how I prefer to leave it."

Horohoro had remained seated and for a while it was just the two of them staring at each other in silence. "If things were different, I'd stay with you. Honestly, I would. I don't want us to part with bad feelings between us." She got down onto her knees and looked him in the eyes, then looked down. "You'd better go now. Yayoi needs to get to bed, and Yoh will be wondering where you are."

Horohoro got up and headed for the door.

"We won't hate you, you know. You've traveled with us this far with us, and you've been a good comrade. If you ever want to join us again, we'll welcome you back no matter what."

After Horohoro had left Rin whispered to herself, "Even Lyserg?"

* * *

**I hope I got the kimono reference right. I did a little research and found that young girls and unmarried women wore more colorful kimonos, and black kimonos with the pattern below the obi were worn by older women at their children's wedding. Huh, now that I think on it, if Rin was a traditionalist, she'd be wearing something suited for her age. Oh well, that's why it's called a fan fiction. Real life can be twisted a bit. **

**I've been reading the Otori series by Lian Hearn (it's soooooo good!), and after reading it, I realized how mediocre my knowledge of not only the political structure of medieval Japan, but fashions (especially fashions!) and manners and such was. It's such a good series! You people should read it. You won't regret it.**

**Review!**


	22. Chapter 22

Pretty in Black

Chapter 22

_One week later…_

A man ran through a dark maze. He didn't know where his team was, or if they were even alive. All he knew was that he was lost in this maze with no way out. It was pitch black and he was terrified for he could swear that there was something following him: he could hear the flapping of wings and the scratch of claws. Whenever he turned a corner into another hall, he could hear it in the darkness, so he kept running until he found a hall with no evidence of the creature or creatures that tormented him.

His oversoul was useless for providing light or even trying to break down the cold stone walls that so much reminded him of a tomb. _I won't let this become my tomb_. He thought over and over to himself. _I will get out of here and win this fight!_ Deep down though, he knew it was useless. These girls had him right where they wanted him: running through this maze like a lab rat.

Turning another corner of the unending labyrinth, the man spotted a faint light in the dark: a light that so much looked like the light of day. Hopes raised, he ran towards it, thirsting for the light that had been denied him for what seemed like an eternity.

The light was blinding at first and when his eyes adjusted he found that he was not outside, as he had hoped, but in a large room with a chair and fireplace. He sat himself on the chair to rest and get warm, for it was cold and clammy in the maze. Observing the room, he noticed a small bundle next to the hearth. Curious, yet on his guard, he crept over and opened it.

Inside was a little snake curled into a ball which promptly unraveled, slithered out, and looked up at the man with the look that all snakes have: cold and emotionless. Oversoul still engaged, the man thought it would be wise to dispose of the snake before it could do harm, if any, to him.

Suddenly, as if it had read his mind, the snake struck out and wrapped itself around him, enlarging to twice its original size. He screamed and tried desperately to free himself, but to no avail. The snake dragged him into the fireplace which he now saw its true nature as a crematorium, but to late.

* * *

Black smoke billowed out from the eastern corner of the labyrinth that took up the entire fighting arena, before it disappeared with Team Tamishiigumi's victory. With its disappearance, three bodies were left in its wake: one torn to shreds by the claws and teeth of some wild beast, the other, his eyes gouged out and face and neck mutilated, and the last, a charred skeleton slowly turning into ashes.

* * *

Team Funbari Onsen and Team the Ren was horrified and disgusted by the sight. They never thought that something like that would be caused by their hands. Especially _hers_. After the bodies were carted off, Horohoro watched sadly as Rin nonchalantly exited the arena, not even giving a second glace at the carnage she allowed to happen.

Blood stained the arena sand, but it was soon swept away and replaced by a fresh layer to be stained by the next victims of the Shaman Fight.

* * *

**Needless to say, I'm rather pleased with this chapter. I wrote it all last night along with almost the entire next chapter at around midnight. It was late night inspiration.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Team Tamishiigumi is supposed to mean "Soul Group", for those who are wondering.**

**This was completed a few days ago, but my Internet was down. Again.**

**Thank you!**

**KeLpIeenoch-** **Ohhhhh yeah, Lyserg is going to hate her for sure. More about the Rin/Hao relationship is going to be revealed in this chapter. Now that Rin has done what she had done, everyone's a bit on edge. Those **_**were**_** the fastest updates in a while. I wrote them out literally in the middle of the night and typed them the very next day.**Pretty in Black

* * *

Chapter 23

"That's how it is here: survival of the fittest, dog eat dog, eat or be eaten. The Patch doesn't care about who lives or who dies. The objective is the find the Shaman King, and that means that the weak have no place here. It's shaman life." Ren argued with his comrades about the horrors of Team Tamishiigumi's fight.

"But how could she do that?" Horohoro slammed his fist down onto the table. "I know her: she's not a murderer."

"Even if she wasn't one, she is now. You can't ignore that fact. From what we now know, the Rin we traveled with wasn't the real one. She could have murdered us in our sleep for all we know. You say you know Rin, but the Rin you knew was a charade. A fraud. The way I see it, _Matsumura_ Rin only came with us so she could get into Patch Village, then leave us to join Hao. He could have even sent her as a spy."

"If she was going to do that, she would have joined Hao a long time ago and gotten to Patch Village months before we did, you stupid stack of meat!"

Ren turned. "Yoh, get him to see the truth of the situation."

Yoh sat in his chair staring into his drink. "What she did was unforgivable, but we can't hold that against her in the long run. She's with Hao and that's how he works. If you're opponent is too weak, you kill him, or you get killed for disobeying orders for letting someone 'so weak and useless' live. She may not have had a choice."

"Thank you!"

"But you don't know that!" Ren argued further. "One needs to look at all of the parts before you can see the whole."

"And just what would be the whole?" Horohoro shot back. "We have two different perspectives, and two different wholes. You're just glad she's gone because you've never liked her!"

"Baka! The only reason you refuse to see it is because you've become infatuated with her! Don't think I couldn't tell! You've been mooning over her ever since you met her like a lovesick puppy! To be frank, it's disgusting! Attachment kills. I've seen it before and I know that I'll see it again if this continues!"

"Oh, well I'm so sorry if I have some shred of humanity in me! Unlike you where it never even existed!" With that Horohoro stormed off. Everyone who had not been involved in the quarrel stood back as Ren stormed off in the opposite direction muttering curses. They were silent as they let what just happened sink in. It amazed them that they had not seen it sooner. It explained why the two were with each other so much, why Horohoro hadn't been complaining about not having a girlfriend, and Rin's special treatment of him.

They also considered Ren's point. The Rin they knew was a product of her need to keep her real identity secret. Could she just have been playing with him? None of them wanted to believe that, but couldn't help but think it.

"Don't think badly of Rin." Yoh announced. "She really did have feelings for him. Even in the beginning." He got up and left in the direction that Horohoro had gone.

* * *

Horohoro sat on the roof of the dorms, muttering to himself. "What does Ren know? He's never loved anyone in his entire life!"

"Ren loves Jun."

"Yeah, but she's his sister." Horohoro turned to look at Yoh. "What are you doing here anyway? I want to be alone." Yoh sat down next to him.

"When you want to be alone, it's best to have friends with you so you don't sink deeper into yourself. You'll have someone to pull you back." When Horohoro didn't answer, Yoh continued. "There's no reason to doubt Rin."

"I'm not doubting."

"Yes, you are. You're turning Ren's words over in your head and letting doubt creep into your heart."

"I swear! It's like you can read minds! And when did you become Mr. Philosopher?"

Yoh grinned sheepishly. "I don't need to read your mind to know what you're thinking about, your face says it all."

Horohoro ran his hand over his face as if it would erase it. "She was scared that's all. Scared of the future. She didn't want to risk her own safety by parading about; she had to know who she could trust."

"Rin has a good heart, even if she's been trying to hide it. She's had this destiny forced on her at a young age by leading a family that refuses to exist anymore. Over time, that becomes a very stressful job."

"So are you saying that you knew about all of this before I did?"

"I guessed a few things and did a little investigating of my own by talking to a few local spirits when we were still in Japan. Mostly the ancient ones. They told me a lot of things. Orikir, for example: they recognized him as a spirit that has been in the Matsumura family for centuries. From generation to generation, I learned about the Matsumuras, but then the stories stopped. No one knew what happened to them."

Horohoro stood up angrily. "You knew all of this and you didn't tell me?" Yoh, in his nature, was unfazed by the angry Ainu. "Anna told me it would be best if Rin told you herself. I agreed with her. Now think: how would you have felt if we had come out of nowhere and told you?"

Horohoro thought. "I would have been mad that she didn't tell me herself."

"Exactly. So it was for the best that Rin tell you, and not me. Even she had to see the truth about herself, and to be honest, she probably didn't like what she saw."

"Then why did she join Hao?" Horohoro asked desperately.

Yoh spread is hands. "You know how it is with Hao: if you don't join him, you die. Especially if you have an ancient blood oath. It's bad luck really."

* * *

Rin sneezed. _This is such bad luck_. She thought. _Horohoro and the others are probably really disgusted with me right now. _She didn't really want to kill that man, but deep down, she wanted to and in the end, the act had been exhilarating. She remembered how she had felt; the pain, frustration, and anger she had kept pent up inside of her coming out of her at that one moment, dealing the final blow. She also remembered the horror she felt after she realized what she had done.

Staring through the darkness at what used to be a face, she felt like crying with shame, but that wouldn't have helped anything; Hao didn't want weak shaman in his kingdom: _I want to avoid worthless fights._ _If they are weak, kill them. If they show potential, let them live and I will deal with them later. _Those were his orders to every team that were called out.

Luckily, her team wouldn't be fighting again, at least not until everyone else had fought and the numbers had been lowered, so in that time, she considered maybe going to see what her friends (was that the right word anyway?) were doing.

Rin drew circles in the dirt with a twig she had found. Hao's camp was just outside of the village, away from prying eyes (though Rin doubted that anyone would want to spy on them), and right now she was very much by herself, if you did not include the few who preferred to stay in the camp and not go into the village. She didn't know who any of them were and didn't want to speak to them, or they to her. That was just fine.

Mitoko and Yayoi had gone into Patch to relax and celebrate their first victory. They wanted her to come along, but she told them no, and had stayed behind. _I wonder if Horohoro ever got his hot spring buns._ She wondered idly. _Maybe I can send him a package._ She hit herself in her head. _Why do I keep thinking about those_ stupid_ hot spring buns!_

"Maybe it's because it's the last thing you could have given him."

That voice made her nearly jump out of her skin. Hao had appeared so quietly, she didn't even hear him.

"I thought you were in town!"

"I was, but I got bored."

_You would._ She thought.

"I'd be careful about what goes through that mind of yours."

"I'm sorry. Please go bother someone else if it suits your lordship."

"I'd rather not. Besides, you and I have things to discuss."

"Such as?"

"Such as the Matsumura issue."

"Issue?"

"If you'll let me, I'll let you in on a little secret. After I had reincarnated and started gathering followers, I discovered that your family had separated. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed because I thought that I had lost the only allies that I could depend on to be the first to join me. You may not know this, but before they split, there was disagreement on the matter of the heir between your uncle and father."

Hao now had Rin's full attention. "That's mostly why the Matsumura's split down the middle like a broken watermelon. Your father wanted to keep everything the way it was, that meant joining me once again in the shaman fight, and your uncle wanted to annul the pact we had formed a thousand years ago. It was such a stupid argument to begin with. Your dim-witted uncle didn't see that that pact we had made was what was keeping him alive. If it had been broken, your family would have lost everything, including their lives."

"I don't understand. Pact? The only pact I know of is that the head of the family would join you in the shaman fight to help you create paradise on earth. That was it."

"You apparently didn't read your family records too carefully. I'm the one who gave your family their good fortune and made them what they were."

Rin stood up. "I read them carefully enough! The Matsumura's came to their fortune on their own! They had their own domain with their own subjects!"

"Your _family_ got all of that from _me_! In the beginning they were little less than magicians traveling the country performing tricks for a few coin! Then I came along and offered them a chance to become great shaman like the Asakura's, which were and still are the greatest shaman in Japan! Naturally they agreed and once they came under my teaching, became powerful shaman and signed a pact stating that they would serve me! Asakura Hao! The greatest Onimyoji in the world! If they ever broke that pact, they would lose my blessing and everything they had, including their pathetic lives! They were great, but under me they were just sniveling servants!"

Rin was enraged by this story and the insult to her family and herself. _The scrolls in the Tamashii no Horu were incomplete._ She realized. _How could I not have seen it? It explains the absence of records of our early history and the jumps in-between dates. Did Tsuji know about this? Of course he did, he was the heir. The only reason I was ignorant of my family's origins was because I was born a female. _

"So no one else knew about our beginnings except the head and the heir?"

"Yes. It was necessary."

"And my family is nothing but a horde of servants?"

"If that's the way you want to keep it."

Rin paused. _Okasan…_ "Did my mother know?"

"Your mother? She accepted what she was told." He smirked. "She always told you that you would have your own destiny to fulfill, didn't she…_Little Bell_?"

Rin cringed in hate at his use of her mother's name for her. "Don't call me that." She hissed. "I am going to forget the little bedtime story you merrily related to me. I am a Matsumura, and we were a great name in history before we were forgotten." She smirked back at him. "Just like the great name of Asakura before you were condemned as devils and…"

Rin did not have time to finish her sentence before a stinging slap from Hao cut her off. She stumbled backwards and held her face in shock; no one had ever hit her before. Hao was a tower of fury now. He grabbed her wrist on the hand holding back the pain blossoming in her cheek and yanked her towards him. Staring face-to-face with Hao, she felt both relief and terror.

_I am going to die. There's no doubt about it: I am going to die. I don't care about dying. I don't want to live in this dreadful world like this anymore, but as soon as he kills me, he'll devour my soul and kill me forever. Eternal death. Just another mark on the death sheet. Will anyone who finds out even care enough to want to avenge me? I betrayed them all. Horohoro..._

Hao leaned close to her and whispered venomously. "There's nothing stopping me from killing you here and now, but by your thoughts, that's what you want isn't it?" When she didn't answer, he shook her. "_Isn't it?_" She nodded her head. "Maybe I _should_ kill you and put you out of your misery, but that would be too merciful. So you are going to live and carry out my wishes and the fate of your family if you don't want me to go after your love in retaliation. You wouldn't want that to happen now would you?"

"If you kill him, I'll just kill myself later. It wouldn't matter to you. I'm just a pawn on your playing board of a dream that will never be." She paused. "Yoh will defeat you. It's just a matter of time."

Hao simply looked at her before his hand exploded into a fiery ball. Rin shrieked in pain as the white-hot flames seared her arm to the bone. Through the excruciating pain she wondered if this is what the rest of his victims felt before he killed them. The flames died away after the few short seconds it was ignited, and Hao let go of her arm and watched her fall to her knees in front of him before turning away. "For your loyalty." He disappeared.

Rin didn't look at her arm as she crawled towards the lake the camp was placed next to and immersed her arm in the soothing water, which did only so much to stave off the pain. Swallowing hard, she lifted her arm to check the damage.

The flesh from the second joint of her thumb to halfway to her elbow was severely burned. At the most severe area, the fire had almost melted the flesh off completely, leaving only blackened bone, muscles and cauterized veins in its wake; it was bleeding around the less severe areas. She realized with a sunken heart that she might have to amputate her hand. _I'll wait to see if it will have to come down to that. I'm going to have to wrap this up soon so it won't get infected._ She rose to her feet to go back to her tent, but her legs wouldn't support her, so she just fell back down. _I feel faint. I don't think I'll be able to make it to into the village to get a poultice._ Those were her last coherent thoughts before black formed around the edges of her vision and cut it off completely.

* * *

It was dark when Rin awoke. She saw that she was still next to the lake and knew that no one had even bothered to move her to a better location, wake her up or even tend to her wounds. _The burn._ She stayed where she was as she let the fact that she now had basically a useless limb bury itself into her mind. It didn't hurt as much now and she noticed that the bleeding had stopped, the sand she was resting on dyed red underneath. _This is going to become infected. I've been lying on the sand for hours._ Using her good hand, she pushed herself up and gently washed the sand from the wound and made her way back to her tent.

Yayoi and Mitoko were not back yet, which was good because Rin didn't want them to ask questions until she had at least seen a doctor, if there was one. "Orikir." She called. The bird materialized in front of her with an air of sympathy.

"I'm sorry about all of this, you know. I figured that you just knowing about the joining part would be enough."

"Please don't talk about that. I need to see a doctor." She held out her arm for him to see.

"I don't need to see it. I already know what happened." Orikir shook his head. "Sometimes you're like blue-hair: you don't know when to shut up."

"Are you going to point out my flaws, or find someone or something to help me here!" she was starting to get frustrated.

"Alright! I assume that if I do find a doctor, you don't want them to come here."

"Right. I want to keep this low."

"How about that Faust guy? He seems like a good doctor."

The hairs on Rin's neck stood on end, for more reasons than one. "No! Not him! He's with Yoh and I don't want them to know what happened."

"You are being very difficult." Orikir flew off.

Rin watched him disappear before she walked out of the camp and into the night.

* * *

**Uh, yeah. This one was a beast to write. I wanted to grace you lovely readers with a long chapter full of more revelations and a fluffier plot bunny. (Hehe…bunny… ********) I've been trying to get a little blood and gore in lately, if you haven't already noticed. In case you're wondering, her left arm is the one that is burned. Slap with the right hand on the left side of the face, the left hand of the slapped automatically comes up. Simple.**

**Review!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Double update!**

**Thank You!**

**KeLpIenoch****- Man, you review fast. I wish Faust was_ my_ doctor. Is that weird?**

* * *

Pretty in Black

Chapter 24

Lyserg watched as Yoh walked away and the X-Laws went back to the ship. He flinched as Marco glared at him with a silent order to follow. He had a feeling that the punch in the face earlier was not going to be the only punishment he was going to receive tonight for sneaking off of the Ark X and talking to Hao's twin. _Yoh…_ He wanted Yoh to join not only so they could defeat Hao together, but so he could at least have someone to talk to, and a familiar face to see. After he had joined, Marco seemed determined for him not to have any contact with his former companions. Not that his efforts amounted to much; Lyserg was too afraid to face them anyway. He felt ashamed that he just up and left without warning, but he knew that if he had went to tell them, they would have asked for him not to leave and he wouldn't have been able to do object. He felt a little bit better now that he had talked to Yoh and saw that he wouldn't have hindered his decision to join the X-Laws, even if he didn't like it.

The X-Laws weren't really what he thought they would be. They were determined, yes, but their tactics were militaristic and calculating, and he was anything but a soldier. He was just a boy with nowhere to go in his search for revenge. He had felt comfortable with them in the beginning, but now he wasn't sure. He started to question their methods now that X-III was going off to die tomorrow.

Lyserg picked himself off of the ground and wiped the dirt from his pajama pants. Following Marco, a black figure caught his eye. He wondered if he should mention it to Marco, but saw that Marco was already aware of it.

"X-Laws!" Marco called. They stopped and came back. "We have another visitor." He explained to them.

As the figure came closer, Lyserg's eyes widened when he saw who it was. _What is she doing here? She's going to get herself killed!_Rin didn't know where her feet were taking her, so long as it got her away from that camp. She walked until she found herself on a beach. Sand was trickling into her sandals and she removed them with her good hand and felt the fine sand squish between her toes in a pleasant way. Walking further, she started wading through the water. It would probably ruin her dress, but it was already sullied from the harsh sand of the lake. What a difference there was in sand! Even the water felt different!

* * *

Rin had never seen the ocean before and it was beautiful with the moon and stars reflecting off of its surface. She closed her eyes and breathed in the salty air, wanting to lose herself and forget everything that ever happened. If only everything was this peaceful! If only time would stop and catch her in this moment forever!

A footstep behind her snapped her out of her reverie and she sighed, dreams of peace shattered. Turning her head, she saw the white uniforms and red emblems of the team that was a little less worse than Hao's. "X-Laws."

Their glasses adorning leader (she didn't know his name) was aiming his gun right at her head. _Out of the frying pan and into the fire._ "Have you come to look at the stars with me? It would be a little more quixotic if there wasn't a weapon involved."

"You're a subordinate of Hao. I've seen you with him in the arena."

"I'm not going to deny it, though I don't necessarily like being called a 'subordinate' of anyone."

"Why are you here?"

"One can't even take a first time look at an ocean without having a gun pointed at them." She complained. Marco jabbed the gun's barrel into the side of her head.

"I know who you are, and your connection with Hao. You have to die." He pulled back the gun's hammer.

Lyserg couldn't hear what Marco and Rin were saying, but became alarmed when he saw and heard Marco pull back the hammer. He ran up to them and yelled, "Marco! Don't!"

Marco turned and glared at him. "Why do you want her to live? She's in alliance with the demon Hao." His words felt like a kick in the gut. With Hao? First he felt disbelief, then anger.

"With Hao? Rin!"

Rin turned herself around, suprised. "I thought you knew."

"Of course I didn't! How, how…" He could barely finish. "How could you join that murderer!"

"I didn't have a choice."

"Everyone has a choice!"

"Lyserg-kun…" she reached up and grabbed hold of his sleeve. Lyserg had to stop himself from pulling away and gagging with disgust. Her arm was horribly burned and the smell of the burnt flesh was faintly present. "I didn't have a choice. We can still defeat Hao. Don't let him kill me."

"Marco or Hao?"

"Both mean an eternal death. After I die, my soul will die too. Don't let them do that. I want to see my family again."

Marco stepped in. "Are you willing to leave Hao and join us? We can protect you from him. All you have to do is deny him and be baptized by Lady Jeanne, then your soul will be saved from and eternal death."

Rin glanced around at the other X-Laws who stood silently, waiting for an answer. "Do you have medical supplies? My arm will become infected."

"Are you willing to join us?"

"When do I have to answer?"

"Now."

Rin swallowed. "I'm too weak right now. Give me supplies to tend to my wound and I'll give you an answer."

Marco stared at her for a moment before disarming his weapon. "Fine." He turned to the others. "Meene! Take her to the infirmary and wrap her arm. Kill her if she tries anything!"

The blonde female nodded, holstered her gun and came over to Rin. "Come."

* * *

**Good? Bad? Average? Will Rin join the X-Laws? Find out next chapter! Ha!**

**Review!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Three updates in one day! Who would have thought! I'm on like a streak here! I know what I want to happen and I keep throwing out them chappies! This has been a very productful day.**

**It was a really unexpected turn of events, but I really wanted the X-Laws involved somehow and have Rin get into an even sticker situation than what she was already in.**Pretty in Black

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Chapter 25

As Rin sat in the stark whiteness of the Ark X, she felt perversely at ease, even though the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end. The man named Marco had promised her that they would protect her from Hao if she joined them, but she did not truly trust his word. Not after what she had seen on the beach. Even in the faint light of the moon, she had seen the ugly bruise that was forming on Lyserg's pretty face and the marks under his shirt when she had reached out to him. She didn't know who exactly put those marks upon Lyserg, but she had her suspicions that Marco was somehow guilty. Who would do something like that _but_ a man like Marco?

_Alone and abused._

She felt sorry for Lyserg, but now that he knew that she had joined Hao's ranks, he wouldn't be forgiving or even speaking to her anytime soon. An hour or more on the Ark X and she had seen nobody but the woman called Meene, who had tended to her arm, gave her a white robe to change into, and took away her tattered, salt-encrusted clothes. She wanted to talk to Lyserg, to see how he was doing and ask him if he had seen or even talked to Yoh and the others and be informed on their movements, but as already said, she hadn't seen anyone since Meene left.

Sliding off of the bed, Rin went over to the door, and found it locked. _Perfect._ The only other exit was a small porthole, but upon further inspection, Rin found that even if she managed to open it and slip through it, there was nothing below her except ocean. If she had her beads, she could have easily oversouled and broken the door down with a blast of mana, but those too, had been taken from her.

The rocking of the ship was beginning to affect her. She was starting to get a headache and felt nauseous. Right when she felt as if the white of the room was going to suffocate her, a resounding _thunkcreek_ indicated that the door was being unlocked and opened.

Marco stood at the door, his white uniform brilliantly contrasting with the black background. Rin felt intimidated by his presence. Maybe it was because he was so tall, towering over her by a few feet, the large gun he carried at his hip, the way his glasses concealed his eyes when the light stuck them, or because she was dressed in nothing more than a thin robe. She wished she had her old, heavy, dark robes back, no matter how tattered they were. Dressed in white, she felt exposed to the world. She wanted nothing more than to shrink back and disappear into the shadows and leave this ship. Maybe if she were fast enough…

"There's no use in trying to find a way to escape. If you try, you'll be shot." Did this man see everything? "Have you thought about our offer?"

In truth, Rin hadn't. She moved to speak, but the mere sight of the man would not allow any words to come forth. This man scared her more than Hao. _Perhaps it is better with him. At least there, I'm not restricted in my movements._

"Well?" Marco was beginning to become impatient.

"Can I go on deck? I don't feel well."

"Speak up!"

"May I go on deck?" Rin asked a little louder.

"Are you willing to join us in the fight against Hao?"

This man was not going to budge. Rin had to get out of this room! The pressure was building inside her brain and she felt as if she were losing her mind!

"Yes! Let me up on deck! I need fresh air! I'm suffocating!" Anything! She would agree to anything if she could just get out of this metal ship!

Up on deck, the night air was cold and soothing. Rin clutched the neck of her robe tighter as she looked up at the stars. _Hoshi…_ Once again, as it has been happening more and more, fear clutched at her heart as she remembered Hao's words.

_The idiot didn't know that the pact was the only thing keeping him alive! If it had been broken, his miserable life would have been over! Your family agreed to my terms if I would make them great!_

Rin swore. What will happen to them now? She had just sentenced the very family she swore uphold to death! Maybe, just maybe…

Rin walked to the edge of the ship and acted as if she were merely going to lean over the edge to gain a better view of the stars. "Marco…" she started. "Thank you for tending to my wound. You've been a big help." She grabbed the railing and pulled herself over into the sea.

Marco gave a shout and fired into the water after her. The bullet barely missed her as she swam the distance to the shore. Hurtling out of the water, she ran back the way she had come. Back to Hao.

* * *

**I got myself into a mess when I started writing this. (scratches head awkwardly) I got her into the ship, but I had noooo clue as to how she was going to get out or what was going to be said. I hoped this worked out ok. Rin's getting into this "I want to die. No, scratch that, I want to live. Where am I and what am I doing here? The stress is killing me!" phase. This will be fun to write. No seriously.**

**Reviews are shiny!**


	26. Chapter 26

**SCHOOLS OUT! YESYESYESYES! Oh, glorious summer vacation! Sorry about the wait. There was a writers block.**

**Thank You!**

**Mizula ****- Guilty as charged: I take too long to update. School and writers block along with an Internet that won't display at times doesn't help any. The updating process is going to speed up now since I've been having big creative moments in here and school is out. Cliffhangers. I torture you all with 'em don't I? Sorry. I have a love-hate relationship with them. I can't live with 'em, and I can't live without 'em. I'll check that out!**

**KeLpIeenoch****- You**_** think**_** he took it well. The, how shall I put this, dominos are going to fall very soon. She's being kind of fickle right now. Drowned with morphine…**_**cringe**_**. **

**Iliada****- Thanks. That's ok. I've been busy too, so there wasn't that much updating time for me either. **Pretty in Black

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Chapter 26

Rin woke. She was in her tent with Yayoi and Mitoko asleep next to her and the sun was sun streaming in through the flaps. Yawning, she got up and crawled out, careful not to wake her sleeping cousins or jar her arm. All in all, it was a beautiful day: everything looked extra bright and colorful. Still dressed in the white robe, she stretched her hands up towards the sky and thanked whoever was watching over her that she had lived through the night.

She frowned. Why had she allowed herself to go on that ship? Now she had a death sentence on her head. After she had gotten to shore, all of the X-Laws had been summoned and had been determined to kill her. Only with dumb luck and the head start had she been able to outrun them and get back to Hao's encampment. When she had arrived, the fires were low and she had crept silently into the tent she shared with her cousins. Exhausted, she carefully laid down and fell immediately asleep in the security the infamy of the camp brought. Neither the X-Laws nor anyone else would ever come here.

"Our little lost sheep has returned to the flock." Came Hao's voice.

"Strangely enough, I'm glad to hear your voice, Hao." They silently stared at each other before Hao broke the silence.

"I'm glad you're back. Yayoi and Mitoko didn't take kindly to almost being killed."

"I'm sorry."

"So how did you enjoy being an X-Law for those five minutes?"

Rin laughed. "It was miserable! How can they live on that ship? And the whiteness! They must love that color!" She stopped laughing. "Of course, I also feel a bit sorry for them. They're confined to the ship until they fight. At least here, one can go anywhere they want."

Hao hmmed. "Now for your lecture." His voice regained its authoritative tone. "What were you doing there?"

Rin was surprised he even had to ask, what with his mind-reading abilities and all. "Do you even have to ask? You practically burned my arm off!"

"So you went to the X-Laws for help and joined them in those _painful_ moments in thinking maybe you could gather allies together and defeat me?"

"I was, and still am, angry with you at what you did to me. It's unforgivable. I agreed to join them in exchange for medical attention. Which, I might add, I _seriously_ needed. Then I remembered what you said and came back. That must account for something."

"True, true, but you betrayed me. With that, you should have died, right along with the rest of the Matsumuras. Tell me, did you feel as if you were suffocating? That the walls were closing in around you? That was the sign that you were dying; I never said anything about the death being a quick one. You'll basically suffocate to death."

Rin bit her lip. She knew what it was like to be suffocated thanks to that snake-kyonshii when they went to rescue Ren. It had not been pleasant and Rin did not wish to repeat the experience. "I need to get dressed." She muttered and went into her tent.

* * *

In the Patch Stadium, only a handful of the seats were filled for the fight between X-III and Hoshigumi. Most of the shaman didn't even bother to show up because everybody knew who was going to win anyway. Those who did come just wanted to see if there was even a remote possibility of defeating Hao, or were just morbid and wanted to see a good, bloody fight. The previous match with teams T-Production and Hanagumi ended too soon and they were itching for a good fight.

From where she was seated, Rin could look across the stadium and pick out Funbari Onsen and Team the Ren. Horohoro's blue hair stood out against the tan of the stone and she could even see that he had changed his headband from his normal blue and black to a plain white cloth one. Orikir, sitting on her shoulder, saw where she was looking and puffed out his feathers. Radim called the start of the fight. Rin didn't bother to watch.

"Do you think I should talk to him afterwards?" she asked, meaning Horohoro.

"If you want to. Hao won't hold it against you, though you may want to be careful on how you present yourself. Who knows how they feel about you after your last fight?"

"True, but I want to know how they are doing." She notice Manta freak out and start running, yelling about something.

"X-III Meene is dead." Radim announced. Rin felt her heart go out a little to the woman who had bandaged her arm, but the feeling was fleeting. She would have killed her anyway had she stayed. That is, if the blood-oath hadn't killed her first.

* * *

The fight ended with the deaths of X-III, and everyone went back to their normal routine, clearly disturbed by what they witnessed. Some shaman even dropped out of the tournament, knowing that they would be unable to win the crown. The stadium emptied, and Tamashiigumi went and met Funbari Onsen and Team the Ren at the usual haunt of Patch Café.

Everyone was quiet before anyone spoke. Ren got up from his seat and merely brushed past them, not bothering to acknowledge them.

"Hey, Tamashiigumi!" Yoh greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, Funbari Onsen!" Yayoi greeted just as cheerfully, as was in her usual manner. Rin bit her lip. Aside from Yoh, nobody else was willing to meet her eyes or begin a conversation. _They're disgusted with me._ She thought sadly. Right now, she would be happy with just one of Chocolove's puns or Ryu's love speeches. Neither came, but Team Tamashiigumi sat down anyway.

"How have you been Yoh?" Rin asked, knowing that Yoh would at least be the one to engage in some form of small talk.

"Pretty good, considering all that has been happening."

"The same." They watched as blocks of stone to repair the arena were carted past them. Rin fingered with the layers of cloth that had been wrapped around her arms to give the appearance of arm warmers while hiding her burn. It wouldn't do to have them worry about it, though they might wonder why she was wearing arm warmers in this kind of heat. She and Horohoro sat across from one another, silent.

* * *

**Ok, I made a HUGE boo-boo: I had Patch Village inside the cave in earlier chapters, but now I have it on the island what with the Ark X and the ocean and other things! I am SO sorry! Just go with it and pretend that I know what I am doing! I'll fix that all later in the rewrite. As long as you all know what is going on, where Patch is shouldn't matter. It won't change anything plot-wise. (I hope) Crap. So the Tournament is now officially on the island. Just don't ask how they got there. Just pretend that it was the same as in the manga, just unmentioned.**

**I'm going to try and get some HoroRin into the next few chapters. For those who know me, I'm not very good at romance, so some suggestions can and will be helpful.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Same excuse as last time: this was done about a week ago, but my Internet was out again. Figures. Enjoy.**

**Thank You!**

**KeLpIeenoch****- I know! I know! Thank you for the suggestions, right after I published 26, I immediately got into this one and well, you'll see. I just hope I do well on the fluff (or what's there of it).**Pretty in Black

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Chapter 27

After Tamashiigumi sat down with the Funbaris/Rens everything was rather quiet for a while, but it eventually picked up after a few moments when Chocolove cracked a joke off and everyone else was trying to kill him. Horohoro and Rin took that as a good time to leave to talk alone. Walking around Patch seemed like a good way to start things.

"You seem on edge."

"You would be too, if you found out that one of your best friend is Hao's twin brother."

"So I heard. Yoh seems to be taking it pretty well. "

"Yeah, but he's known about it for I don't know how long, and it's Yoh. Nothing really fazes him to begin with."

"It was probably hard the first time he found out, but then accepted it. There's really nothing that one can do about what family you're born in."

"You're right. I mean, my dad and I aren't exactly what you would call close." Rin faced him.

"You aren't? By the way Pirika talked, I would have assumed that you had a great relationship."

Horohoro put his hands behind his head and laughed. "Don't believe everything Pirika says. She likes to talk. I'm not saying she always tells tales, she just talks without thinking sometimes."

"Oh." A few small kids ran past them, playing some game that had the resemblance of tag. "I didn't think that there would be such small children here." Rin observed. "Are their parents actually letting them fight?"

"Most of these kids have been training for this since their birth. Many probably don't have any parents and are participating to make better lives for themselves. As shaman, we aren't widely accepted by 'normal' human society." Horohoro waved a hand towards the kids. "They are regarded as demons and are persecuted if their talents are found out. It's sad. They can't go to school with 'normal' kids, no one is willing to go near them." He sighed and repeated, "It's sad."

"I don't know how that feels." Rin admitted. "I've never actually been around non-shaman; not long enough for them to find out what I am anyway."

"We're one of the lucky ones. I come from a place where people like us are accepted, you never had the contact."

Rin was quiet, obviously thinking deeply. "I've changed my mind."

"About what?"

"I came into the fights to bring my family back to what we were, but now that I actually see past the illusion that was created about who we were, I don't want to anymore. I never accepted that what's gone is gone." She stopped walking. "I want to teach."

"Teach?"

Rin nodded enthusiastically. "After what you just told me, about shaman in 'normal' human society, I want to open up my home in the mountains to them so they will have some place to go where they aren't looked down upon and can be taught."

Horohoro was surprised and proud at the same time. "Not wanting to sound discouraging or anything, but you never had a formal education."

"I can teach them how to control their powers and accept who they are as shaman and not see themselves as everyone else sees them: as freaks or demons. As for formal education, I can go to school and learn. If the rest of the Matsumuras did it, I can too."

"You'll need help."

Rin grinned. "That's why I have you. And the others too, I suppose, if they want to. What I can't teach them, you can. When you can get away from the fields you'll be planting. In exchange, I'll help you with the fields. I'm used to field work." She remembered the small garden at home. "Of a sort."

Horohoro stared into the distance as he thought about it. "It's a good idea." He held out a hand. "Deal." Rin took it and her grin grew wider.

"Deal." They started walking again, hands still linked. "Of course, there is the matter of whose going to be Shaman King, but whoever wins, I'll still create my haven."

"Unless it's Hao." Horohoro practically spat out his name. "Then there won't be any humans around to protect those kids from."

Rin squeezed his hand. "They'll always need protection from something."

"You aren't actually going to help Hao win are you?"

"Right now, I don't have any other option. I'm sort of stuck where I am."

"Why? All you have to do is go and say, 'Hey, it's my life, I'm here for a reason, and I'm going to achieve my own dreams!'"

Rin tugged on his hand in a signal to stop. "But it is my life and I am here for a reason."

"What?"

Rin suddenly found the sand under her feet suddenly very interesting. Horohoro recognized that look and ran his free hand through his hair. "There's something else, isn't there?"

"Unfortunately."

"Something you forgot to mention?"

"It's almost old news to me now. I didn't know until a day or two ago." She took a deep breath and decided just to tell him point-blank and not go through the entire story. "Apparently, my family made a blood-oath with Hao in his first life and promised to help him win the crown if they would make them great shaman. I guess we weren't so great to begin with. If I leave, we literally stop breathing." She shrugged her shoulders. "And there is the fact that I have the X-Laws wanting to kill me, so Hao's camp is the safest place for me right now."

Horohoro was beginning to feel even sorrier and determined for Rin. "What did you do to get the X-Laws on your tail?"

Rin scratched the back of her head. "I kind of sort of promised to join them if they helped me kill Hao, but then changed my mind at the last minute. It was a rough night, that night." She looked up into his eyes. "That's when I found out about the 'stop breathing' part of the deal. That's why I went back on my promise."

That tore it. Horohoro couldn't stand this any longer. First, Rin left because of family tradition, then she runs away to the X-Laws, who took her off of their happy list, then she went _back_ to Hao and found out that if she leaves, she ought to prepare to see her ancestors sooner than expected. Why was this girl's life so complicated?

"You really know how to get yourself into the biggest jams don't you?"

"That's not good is it?"

"No."

"What can I do?"

"Find a way to break the curse, of course."

Rin looked at him skeptically. "I don't think that it's classified as a curse. Curses are those, 'I condemn you, your children, your children's children and so on and so forth to eternal bad luck and haunting for the rest of your natural lives' sort of thing. This is more of a 'We swear by our blood to serve you for all eternity' thing."

"Exactly! It's a curse no matter how you look at it! It's brought you bad luck, so it's a curse."

"Ok. How would you break a curse?"

Horohoro then went into some kind of supernatural scholar type mode. "First, you need to know how it all got started." He put a finger to Rin's lips when she moved to speak and continued. "But you already know that, so the next step is to go through documents, the more the better. That's so you have a wider spectrum of resources to go by, preferably documents that have been kept by an honest hand. None of that fabricated or exaggerated crap. Then, you need to find the record of such a commitment and read it over and over from different viewpoints until you basically have it memorized. Finally, you look for a loophole."

"Loophole?"

"Exactly! A way to get out of the deal that is perfectly legal. Something that the person who outlined the final draft overlooked before the signatures were signed, so to speak. Find the loophole and you're set."

"Ok, you're saying 'exactly!' a lot, just pointing that out, and you basically just described a way to get out of a deal when you said it was a way to break a curse. Oh! Did I just find a loophole in your plan?"

"No, what you found was called an 'error'. And I know what I'm talking about! Don't be so difficult!"

"I'm not being difficult! You said to go through documents, but all of the documents I have are at home in Japan. I know what the deal was: the head of the family is to help Hao win the shaman crown and make his kingdom in exchange for familial glory and recognition as great shaman under him. If the head of the family doesn't the whole family will…see this is why I love you."

Horohoro grinned. "I know." The couple started walking again. Then, a nagging sensation in the back of his brain would not leave him alone. Something didn't seem right. "Wait, what did you mean when you said that you promised to join the X-Laws if they helped you kill Hao?"

Rin blew air forcefully out of her nose and held up her arms for Horohoro to see.

"I don't get it."

"What do you notice about my wardrobe?"

"You look like you're about to practice sword fighting while wearing arm warmers in 100 degree heat."

"And what's wrong with that picture?" she coaxed. She hoped that he wouldn't get it and just abandon the subject, which would be very merciful on both of their parts, but that just didn't happen with him. If there was something that he wanted to know, he was going to keep guessing until he found out. So it could end up in one of two scenarios: one, he keeps guessing and there is endless entertainment for spectators, or two, he keeps guessing and it becomes annoying for spectators. Usually, it starts out funny, but then gets to where you want to kill him and bury him in your neighbor's kid's sandbox which you then watch for the kid to come out and play and upon discovering a body in their sandbox, they freak out and then you have another source of entertainment. Ren tried it once, but failed, seeing as how Horohoro is very much alive and there are no neighbors with sandboxes next to Funbari Inn.

"That it's wrong to wear winter accessories in 100 degree weather?"

Yeah, that was a good answer, and truthful to boot. Rin put her arms down.

"Hao and I just got into a little spat. It's no big deal."

"So what does that have to do with your wardrobe?" He squinted. "Let me see your arms."

Rin knew that he wasn't dumb, but she was rather disappointed that he figured it out. Horohoro waved his fingers in a 'come on' motion. Rin felt like a child who had been caught sneaking sweets. She handed her arms over. Horohoro removed the pieces of fabric and his face clouded with a mixture of emotions, specifically anger, worry, sadness, and most other negative feelings at the sight of the hastily wrapped bandage on her left arm, where what looked like a third degree burn was barely visible.

"Hao did this didn't he?"

"Yes. I told him that the Asakura's were famous too before they were condemned as devils. This was for my loyalty."

"You really need to let Faust look at this! You're lucky you still have an arm!"

"I went to the X-Laws and she treated it a little bit. The woman who was killed…"

Horohoro pushed her in the direction of Faust. "It doesn't hurt."

"Burns are serious things! Especially in your case! Let Faust look at it and treat it properly!"

Rin allowed herself to be taken to wherever it was that Faust was. The last time they saw him, he was at Patch Café with everyone else. Rin waited outside while Horohoro talked to him. Faust nodded and secured his IV, which read 'For Lunch', to his wheelchair and wheeled over. "Kommen Sie mit mir, Fräulein Rin." He said. Rin clearly didn't know German, but got the gist of what he was saying and followed him and Eliza.

* * *

The Patch Medical Center wasn't what you would call a proper hospital. It was made for speedy recoveries so the patients could go back and fight and had the basic medications you would find in a field hospital. There was little privacy and beds were separated by curtain. All of the Patch officials were trained to provide medical attention, but there were different doctors every day because of the Patch's shift system. Faust, being the doctor he was, had his own medical supply that he had brought with him, and took the liberty of using what the Patch had available.

"This won't hurt at all, it'll pinch, but it will soon be over." Faust said as he readied an IV and slid it into a vein in Rin's arm, which she didn't like at all. "You lose fluid when you get such a serious burn. Tell me how this happened, when, and what has been done for it in that time."

Rin quickly related all that had happened the night before. Faust listened intently and calculated everything in his head. "I'm going to give you some antibiotics and pain medication as well as a tetanus booster, seeing as how your immunizations are practically non-existent. Eliza." Eliza, in her graceful way, prepared a tetanus shot and handed it to her husband. "Danke, meine Liebe." Faust administered the vaccine and sat back. "You're very lucky, Klein Ein. Normally, severe burn victims would have either died of shock or infection, but the X-Law woman's, what her name? Meene did a hasty, but effective job in cleaning it. Now."

Faust wheeled back from the bed after carefully wrapping her arm with a new bandage. "You'll stay here and Eliza and I will keep an eye on you for the next few days. The bandage will be changed frequently and the burn monitored for any sign on infection. Later on, the dead tissue will be removed. When your skin heals, it will leave a thick scarred surface called and eschar which will make blood flow to the area difficult, so I will have to cut through it so the healthy tissue underneath can receive blood. Because your burn is so deep, it will leave an extensive scar. This can be remedied with a skin graft."

"Okay." Rin said quietly. She was glad to know that despite Faust's seeming madness, he was gentle and a good doctor and felt bad that she had felt otherwise. "Thank you." Faust nodded politely and gathered his things. Rolling over to the door, he allowed Horohoro to come in.

"I just decided that I don't like hospitals." Rin announced. "Too many sharp objects."

Horohoro laughed and pulled up a chair. "If you can call this a hospital, but it'll help you heal faster."

"Faust explained everything that he needed to do before this heals fully. I didn't know that there was so much that went into a burn. I mean, there were some burns back home, but it was never anything too severe."

"Rin, why do you have to be so modest?"

"What do you mean?"

"If something is wrong or you're hurt you never tell anyone and wait to see if someone even notices. We don't know everything that goes on, so you have to tell someone once in a while so they can help you."

"I just don't want to bother anyone and have them worry."

"You won't bother anyone. We won't mind if you let us know that you're hurt or upset about something."

"I know. Did you tell them what happened?"

"Yeah. Everyone's going to come around in a few minutes after they finish eating. They were bargaining with Silva to cut down on the prices because everything is so expensive. It makes me wonder how anyone is going to eat after they run out of money here."

Rin agreed with a slight nod of her head and looked out of the small window her bed was positioned next to. "Hey, what's up?"

"I know that I said that I'd find a way to get out of the deal, and I know how I'm going to do that, but Hao has something planned, and I don't think that I should leave until I know what's going on." She shut her eyes. "I could hear him talking with Lushist sometimes, but I could never get close enough to hear it clearly, but I know that it's big and it's probably going to come soon." She turned back around. "We won't be able to beat him."

"Of course we will! We can't let a guy like that win!"

"Everyone's seen what he can do! He turned the Spirit of Fire into water! Most shamans have dropped out of the tournament already because they know they can't win!"

Horohoro was quiet. "Things have been getting really weird lately, I'll admit that, but one can't give up all hope that Hao will win." He leaned over the bed. "We'll talk again tonight. I'll see what's going on. Right now, you just concentrate on healing. Ok?" He tugged playfully at a piece of her hair. Rin wrapped her arms around his neck, careful of the IV.

"Just be careful." Rin felt his hands on the side of her face as her kissed her. She hadn't been quite expecting it, and he pulled away before it had time to register.

"I'm always careful!" he grinned, and left.

Rin out a hand to her mouth as if to get a better understanding of the situation. Smiling, she fell back into her pillow.

* * *

**There's your fluff. I thought that was a good way to end this chapter. For some odd reason, while I was writing that, I was thinking of X-Men. oO?**

**Again, with her clothes, think Rurouni Kenshin. Best explanation ever.**

**I had to do some research on how to treat serious burns. I hope it was fairly right. I was cringing the whole time I mentioned needles and such. **_**"This won't hurt a bit."**_** Yeah right, that what they said when they stuck that big needle in my hand! TWICE! I love working with Faust, because you get to put some Deutsch in the dialogue. I'm pretty sure that "Klein Ein" was the right phrase for "little one".**

**Well, see that purplish review button down there? I know you want to press it and leave a review.**


	28. Chapter 28

**The end is near! Ba dum dum! Let the drama ensue.**Pretty in Black

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Chapter 28

A sudden shaking of the earth woke Rin from her sleep. Groggily looking around for a clock, and cursing the Patch for not providing one, she looked out of the window. It appeared to be the next day, but she wasn't sure; the pain medication left the world in a haze before fully clearing up. If it was, then Horohoro hadn't come back that night like he said he would. _I hope nothing as happened._ As another tremor shook the earth, Rin reached for her beads, but remembered that she didn't have them anymore. The X-Laws had them. "Orikir!" she called. The bird appeared.

"I haven't had any attention at all lately!" he complained.

"I know, I'm sorry, but I need you to run another errand for me."

"To find blue-hair, yeah, I know. I figured that you'd want to see where he was, after your scene yest…"

"Orikir!" it figured that he would have known. "Just find out what's going on on the island, ok? Then you can stay out as much as you want."

"Good deal." He flew off.

* * *

Orikir wasn't gone long before he came back with a full report. "It seems that Hao has sent out teams to collect souls of certain teams. I regret to say this, but the first team attacked was Team the Ren."

"W-what? Orikir, what happened?" Rin stood up on her knees.

"Peyote killed Tao Ren. I got there right after it happened. Horohoro seemed to be extremely distressed and left. I don't know where he went though; he seems to just be wandering around… What are you doing?!"

"I'm need to see what's going on for myself. I can't sit here and do nothing while my friends are getting killed!" She threw the blankets to the side and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Taking the IV in her hand, she carefully took it out and put it to the side.

"How will you fight? You're weak, and you don't have any medium!"

"Then we'll just have to Hyoi Gattai."

* * *

"I don't see how Silva's Silver Wing can stand this." Orikir mumbled as he flew over the island, carrying Rin with him.

"It's easy and effective. Plus, I weigh a lot less than Silva and Silver Wing has had a lot of practice. You mustn't complain so much. You're in giant-mode." Rin scanned the ground below her.

"Well, we're here anyway." Orikir set down and Rin surveyed the clearing. "Where did everybody go?"

"I don't know. That yellow haired X-Law guy was here; I don't know what for though. I left when I saw him."

"Which way did Horohoro go?"

Orikir nodded in a direction. "That way. Chocolove went with him."

Rin nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

A flash of blue caught Rin's eye. Thinking it was Horohoro, she ran towards it frustratingly pushing past branches that seemed to be clinging to her, trying to hold her back. Through the trees, she could see part of a beach past three persons observing something that she could not. She stopped as she saw that it was Pirika, Kalim, and a man she could not identify. She started to call out to Horohoro's little sister, but hesitated as the unknown man spoke and an iron ball settled in the pit of her stomach as she heard what was said.

"In this world, the strong prey upon the weak. He left home to chase his own dream and when he left, he became an independent man. He can freely choose between life and death and how he chooses to die is up to him." Kalim protested, and the big man answered nonchalantly. "I only came to see him because Pirika begged me to. I can always have another son."

* * *

**A lot of small segments in a short chapter. It's supposed to be for dramatic effect because to describe everything that happened while she was looking for Horohoro would have been dull to both type and read. Not to mention that in the manga, there are some time lapses like that. You can probably guess who is coming up in the next chapter.**


	29. Chapter 29

**I wrote this and the rest of the chapters out on paper, which was all good, but then it came to the point when I had to type it out, I was cringing. "I have to write all of this again?" I really didn't want to, but there's no other way for this to get posted. So yeah, I'm an army of one…**

**Disclaimer:**** The ending chapters contain some spoilers for the manga. I've changed some things around to make it different, but overall, it's still very like the manga in most respects. Can't say I didn't warn you. Besides, I've already spoiled the rest of the series for me by reading the rest of them online. Buy the manga folks!**

**Thank You!**

**KeLpIeenoch**-**I speak a little Deutsch. I'm not that good at it though. It's kind of rusty and I've not had a lot of situations where I could practice it. I **_**was**_** at a restaurant on time and I couldn't say "a glass of tea with lemon" in English. I wanted to say, "Ein Glas Tee mit Zitrone" to the waitress. It was embarrassing that I couldn't remember a simple sentence in my native language. At least the fluff was good. I was wondering how I was going to write it, so I'm glad it came out all right. We all love Horohoro and his antics. That's why we love him. ;) I've never been put on morphine. I hope I won't have to. Needles freak me out. I don't know what's up with Horo's dad. It never really says (I at least I don't think it does). I know that Horo thinks of himself as a "dumb, unworthy son." So I'm most likely going to have to make up Oyaji's (dad's) character a bit.**

**Chan****- Yes, my speed is impeccable…sha sha sha! Zip! Enjoy the chapter!**Pretty in Black

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Chapter 29

Rin realized that the man in front of her was Horohoro's father. 'My dad and I don't have the best relationship.' She recalled him saying. She didn't think it was so bad that his father didn't care if he died or not. 'I can always have another son.'

Rin tried to see past the three persons in front of her to the events on the beach, and in doing so, a twig snapped under her foot. _I really have got to stop trying to be secretive. It never works out. It must be karma._ The trio turned and Pirika screamed,

"Rin-chan!"

Rin tried to look surprised, and in a minuscule way, she was. "Pirika-chan! Hello! I didn't see you." A crappy lie.

Kalim remarked, "Yes, you did. You've been standing there for about four minutes." Rin sweatdropped.

"Who's this?" the big (not to mention hairy) man asked.

"Otousan! This is Rin-chan! The one that…" her voice dropped at her father's look. "…I was telling you about."

"I remember. The girl that my worthless son fell for." Rin felt herself blush. Horohoro's father shook his head. "I really don't know what you see in him, but come and see him before he dies; if he does." Oyaji (for that was his name) motioned with his hand for her to come forward. She did so. On the beach, three figures, plus Horohoro, were lying defeated on the ground, and two others Rin identified as Big Guy Bill and Blocken, stood over them.

"What's happening?"

Kalim answered. "Horohoro's gone and tried to protect the Ice Men from having their souls stolen for the Spirit of Fire to consume, but by the way things are going, he will be defeated. His furyoku count is smaller than theirs. 2,000 to 20,000 and 40,000."

Furyoku count? "What's that?"

"The Patch have the ability to measure each shaman's furyoku numerically. The higher the number, the stronger the shaman."

"What's mine?"

"Hold on a second while I see. Give me your arm, the one with the oracle bell." Rin obeyed and Kalim typed at it. "There." He gave it back. "Your furyoku count is 10,000. It would have to be, see how your with Hao and all."

Oyaji turned at her. "You're with Hao? The devil?"

"Both yes and no. I am at the moment, but I won't be for long."

"And Horohoro knows this?"

"Yes, and thanks to him, I have the reason and the courage to leave. Usui-san, your son is not worthless. He has his…flaws, but we all do. I joined here for a selfish reason, to restore something that couldn't be restored and he made me see that there was more to life."

"And I'll have a sister!" She squealed. Everyone sweatdropped.

"Pirika-chan, I think you're thinking too far ahead."

"Even so." Oyaji said. "He won't be able to win this fight. As I said before: the strong prey on the weak., but that doesn't mean he should give up. It would be pathetic if he did. Now if you will excuse me." He walked down the slope toward the ocean. "I'll take my leave."

Kalim yelled, "Wait!"

Big Guy Bill and Blocken noticed the man's arrival. "Do you really think you'll be able to leave the island?" they asked together.

"I built myself a raft." Oyaji replied.

Horohoro noticed his father for the first time. "Dad?" he called out, but Oyaji didn't answer; he just unfurled the said on the pathetic looking raft, ignoring everyone around him, even as Bill attacked, bent on taking his soul for the Spirit of Fire.

"Gororo." A man-sized Koropokur appeared and pushed back the attack, giving Oyaji safe passage. Everyone was dumbstruck.

"He should have been defeated." Kalim observed.

"Gororo has a large reiyoku count; that's why he's so big. Big Guy Bill may have more furyoku, but his reiyoku is low. That's why he was defeated like he was." Big Guy Bill was lying unconscious.

"Reiyoku, huh?" Horohoro ran through some calculations in his head. "Kororo is too weak to defeat Blocken." He turned to the Ice Men's bodies. "But if I can use their spirits, their combined power will be more than enough."

"This is too dangerous!" Pirika argued. "Oniichan wants to fight with Reiyoku!"

"If he has enough spirits, he could probably win." Rin said.

""But the problem lies in being able to Oversoul all of them at once and something like that is unheard of! Two, yes, but four? It's impossible! Rin-chan, can't you help him?"

Rin stammered. "I-I can't. I lost my medium. The best I can do is Hyoi Gattai, and that can't beat and oversoul."

"I hope you've realized that this is impossible." Blocked jeered and shed his cloak to reveal his Lego body.

"Then fight me and see brat!" Horohoro challenged. The Ice Men's spirits materialized. "There's a chance we can beat you."

"You're stupider than I thought!" Blocken oversouled his Lego blocks. "If reiyouku surpasses your furyoku you'll kill yourself! Not that I'd mind, it would save me the trouble of having to kill you myself, but it would take the fun out of everything."

"'The strong feed upon the weak.' That's what dad always told me. The way nature works is certain and that makes it better. There are kings of the skies, oceans, forests…no matter what it is there is a king that rules it."

"What are you yammering about? Just give me your best shot! You'll forcefully use your Oversoul and your mind will break!" The air seemed to get colder and the two females watching moved closer to each other as the beach froze over and walls of ice grew up.

"You're in my world Blocken." Horohoro said dangerously. "A world of ice; and in this world I am king. Don't worry, it'll be a bit cold, but it will soon be over." Blocken hesitated and Horohoro saw this. "Don't tell me your scared."

"You're not brave." Blocken said, almost to himself. "Your attitude won't make you get stronger!" Blocken, attached now to his Lego-dino ran forward to attack. Horohoro stood his ground and Oversouled Kororo into Kau Kau Furiwenki, released it, Oversouled Zirah's Vodandi, picked up Pino's sickle, Oversouled Badbh and froze the water and hail, thus creating spikes of reinforced ice.

Kalim shook his head. "Oversouls one by one? It's not good." The spikes rammed into Blocken and disassembled the Legos. "Whoa! Nevermind!" Pirika and Rin shook their heads at the Patch. "He used the different Reiyoku levels to create a combined oversoul!" Everyone went back to watching, and waiting.

Blocken laughed off Horohoro's hard work and just reassembled into a tank and fired before seeing what everyone else saw: that he was trapped in a basically a giant hollow ice cube being filled with water. Horohoro seemed tired. He was breathing heavily, his clothes were torn and he was bleeding.

Everyone was impressed and Kalim vocalized his approval of the boy he had sponsored during the Fights. Rin and Pirika beamed with pride. "You won Oniichan!" Pirika screamed out to him.

"I won." He walked a little ways away from the battle site and sat down with a 'thunk'. "I'm tired." Rin ran down the slope and sat down next to him.

"Hi Horohoro."

"Hey Rin." They watched as the Legos turned to mice. "Mice." Horohoro said with disgust. "Hao's gang is made up of weirdos. Ow!" Rin hit him in the arm.

"I'm part of Hao's gang!"

Horohoro held his arm. "It wasn't including you!"

"What are we going to do with the Ice Men?" As if summoned, the Ice Men slowly stood up and looked about them in a daze.

"Hey! You're up!" Horohoro greeted. "I was about to take you to a doctor."

Pino was the first to speak. "What happened?"

"I saved you."

"The last thing I remember is Cadamaji, Zirah and I trying to get on our ship to go home and then these guys came and told us that we couldn't leave. I thought we were dead."

"It's a good thing you're not. You can leave now Pino."

"Thank you." Zuriah said.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I had to use your spirit allies for a while."

Pino laughed. "It's fine. It saved our hides didn't it?"

Horohoro smiled. "Sure did. Badbh is a powerful spirit. I'm glad I was able to Oversoul with her. You're a good shaman Pino, are you sure you don't want to stay and help fight Hao?"

"I'm sure. That's why I tried to get us off of this god forsaken island. It's a death trap. Good luck." Pino waved, picked up his sickle, and signaled to his team to board the ship.

"Good luck to you too." Horohoro waved back, and the Ice Men were gone. "Well, that's over with." He sighed.

"Not yet!" no one had seen Big Guy Bill get up. AS he started to charge, the sky lit up and everyone was blinded by a while light.

* * *

**As you can see, I played with a few things. I don't know much about Oyaji's character and that's the only time in the manga that I saw that he really talked in, so I made up his character just a smidge. I also let the Ice Men go. Originally, Horo took them to Faust, but since they really wanted to leave, I took pity and let them. Pretend the boat wasn't destroyed.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Guard camp has started. I was dreading it, but after doing it for the past three years, it seems easier and I'm not as tired as I once was. I'm glad, but my arms are a bit sore around the thumb and wrists.**

**Double update! I'm going to do it like that from now on. Two more chapters, plus an epilogue and credits page left.**Pretty in Black

* * *

Chapter 30

An old abandoned building, no one could quite say what it once was, probably a residential building of some sort, was the refuge of Team Funbari Onsen and Team the Ren. There were numerous buildings like these scattered all over the island, away from everything else. Yoh had called everyone there to discuss, in his words, 'an announcement'. Everyone was there, except Horohoro, who had taken off by himself hours earlier. Ryu made a note of this while lighting up one of his cigarettes.

"He sure likes to go off alone; just like in America."

"He was really bummed out." Chocolove replied, head hanging down. "My joke didn't even affect him in any way."

"What joke was it?" Yoh was curious.

"Cheesecake."

"I don't get it."

"You would have to have been there."

"Ok."

"So what's this important announcement Yoh?" Manta asked.

"Well, I wanted everyone to be here, but…"

"Hold it!" Ren interrupted. "Horohoro's my teammate. We're going to all be here together for your little speech and I need to find him if my team is still going to compete. Chocolove, you're coming with me."

"What? Why me?"

"There's no need." A soft voice said from the doorway. "I've got him here."

Hearts came on in Ryu's eyes **(naturally. cough…)** Horohoro, supported on either side by Lyserg and Rin, walked further in. Faust, Oversouled so as he could walk, came over to the battered Ainu, took him from their grasp and set him down onto one of the beds in the corner. He turned back and scolded.

"Rin-san, come here. You should not have left the hospital. Let me look at your arm." He unwrapped the bandage and clicked his tounge. "Doing better, now sit down and be still while I take care of Horohoro. Rin obeyed and waited as Lyserg finished his story.

"I was just messing around, testing the Zuleal's strength when I stumbled onto them by accident. They were in bad shape, so I decided to help them."

"I rode on the wind/ in angel's hands I did fly/ into the night sky." Rin recited.

Everone counted on their fingers. "1…2…3…4…5…Yup, that was a haiku."

"I made that up on the way over here. Lyserg was very hesitant to take me along, but I eventually was able to convince him otherwise. No hard feelings?"

"No hard feelings." Lyserg agreed.

"Can I have my beads back?"

Lyserg shook his head. "I don't have them nor do I know where they are. Marco might have them put away somewhere, and I'm not going to ask about it. He'd just get mad. I'm sorry. Well, I'd better go before…" he didn't finish as the large bay windows shattered as a giant knife came through. Faust was quick on the draw as he giant Oversouled and escaped with everyone.

"Crap! I missed."

"You missed Peyote." Peyote, Zang Ching and Turbine were disappointed.

"I know I missed. I just said so, but I won't miss again."

Metiphestio E held the escaped shaman and moved back on Yoh's word. Ryu jumped down and Oversouled Yamata no Orochi.

"You tried to kill my Lyserg!"

"Obviously! He got in our way and prevented us from taking the souls we needed. And Matsumura-san…" Peyote shook his head. "Why are you hanging out with these losers? Your teammates are lonely and disappointed without you."

Rin shrugged. "I'm sorry. There's someone I need to take care of. Besides, I'm next to useless right now in a fight seeing as how I can't Oversoul." She wondered how many times she'd have to repeat it.

"Still, I don't think that Hao-sama would be too heartbroken if you died here. You've never really been much of a help to us anyway. First you were with them, then us, then the X-Laws for whatever time it was, back to us, then them."

"What can I say? I'm a half-hearted and indecisive person."

"Hey everyone!" Ryu yelled. "Run away! I'll take care of them!"

"Ok!" Yoh yelled back. "Be careful Ryu!" Metiphestio E took off despite Lyserg's protests.

"Yoh! We can't leave Ryu by himself!"

"He'll be fine. He's strong. He will run away when he has to." Lyserg looked doubtful. "Where's Morphine?"

"What? She's right here. She was given to me by my father. I wouldn't give her up for anything."

"Cute."

Ren Oversouled and something exploded, startling everyone.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Ren answered nonchalantly. "Just some unneeded baggage." Everyone accepted the answer and ignored the fat Chinese man falling through the air.

* * *

After they had dropped Lyserg off at the Ark X, and Yoh jumped off and ran off to who knows where, Faust took everyone back to the dorms since Horohoro explained that all of his clothes were there and he was hungry. This, no surprise, brought all kinds of jokes and insults.

"So what do we do now?" Chocolove asked.

"We need to get prepared for our next fight." Ren said to his teammates. "So you all need to get stronger. My furyoku is already at 55,000."

"We need to get organized and figure out everything that's going on." Rin said. "All we know is that Hao sent out teams to gather souls for the Spirit of Fire and everyone has scattered. We need to get our bearings." Everyone agreed. "So that's why I'm going to find out where my teammates are and be with them. Maybe I can figure out what exactly is happening."

"You're going back?! Rin, you said you were going to leave that group! Remember the loophole! The loophole!" the others asked themselves if Horohoro was crazy and wondered why he kept saying 'loophole' over and over.

"I've found it, so I can leave anytime I want, but I think that it would be best if I didn't leave just yet. What better way to get information than to be close to Hao? I told you…" She grinned. "I'm half-hearted and indecisive. I'm sorry I have to leave so soon. Get better Horohoro." She wrinkled her nose. "And put some clothes on."

"…fine."

As Rin left, Opacho came. "Opacho is here to make sure that Yoh-sama gets stronger." She announced importantly.

"It's that little kid of Hao's!" Horohoro screamed. "Ooph!"

Opacho head-butted him. "Opacho strong!"

"Hi Opacho." Rin greeted. "Do you know where Tamashiigumi is?"

"Opacho knows! Opacho has a good nose! They're on the west shore with Hanagumi and Tsukigumi!"

"Thank you." She waved goodbye. "Be good everyone. No fighting now."

Horohoro was writhing on the floor, clutching his abdomen. "N-not f-fair…"

* * *

"Alright, how about a staff?"

"All that would be good for is a perch for me."

Rin and Orikir were throwing out suggestions for a new medium, but it was more Rin making suggestions and Orikir insulting them.

"What do you suggest then? You're _how_ old again? 1000? Haven't you ever used different mediums over the years?"

"Yes, but they have all been family heirlooms. That's the whole _point_!"

"Couldn't you improvise?"

"Maybe, but I don't know what we'd use."

The walked in silence. _Family heirlooms…Oh!_

_**Flashback**_

_**Rin wrapped herself in a blanket and sat next to the fire, wondering how Yoh could sleep sitting up. Staring into the flames, she pulled out a comb of white jade from inside her robes. Turning it about in her hands, she studied the carefully cut image of a garden.**_

'_**Don't worry Okaasan, I won't break it.'**_

_**End Flashback**_

"Mother's comb!"

"What?"

"We can use Mother's comb! It's not exactly an heirloom, but I got it from her." Rin scrabbled around for the inner pocket in her clothes and pulled out a small box. Originally, she had the comb wrapped in a cloth, but in Patch Village, she had bought a box to keep it in to reduce the risk of it breaking. She opened it, pulled out her mother's comb and held it up to her spirit ally. "Do you think you could do it?"

"Yes, but I don't think the attacks will be the same."

"I can learn new ones. Come on! Let's try it! Orikir! Into the comb!" she announced enthusiastically. Orikir obeyed and the comb glowed with her furyokyu, the black contrasting prettily with the white. "At least now we won't be defenseless."

* * *

**Ok, um, well…huh. I remembered the comb at the last minute. I've noticed that while I'm writing everything out, I'm discovering things along with Rin, so when she discovers something, I discover something. Weird. I made up that haiku once I saw Zuleal flying in the night sky after saving Horohoro. Needless to say, it inspired me.**

**Rin's going all over the place! I wonder if she's getting traveler's points for it.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Thank You!**

**KeLpIeenoch- Wow, after all of this time, I've finally learned to spell your name without looking at the review! Hooray for me! Just don't think about the manga ending. That's all I can say. Good luck with your operation. I'll message you on the topic of your story. Enjoy the rest of the story!**Pretty in Black

* * *

Chapter 31

The west coast of Tokyo Island was like all of the others and Rin could not figure out why she kept ending up on a beach! This was what? The third time? Hanagumi, Tsukigumi, and Tamashiigumi were there, as Opacho had said, just seemingly hanging out for the time being and waiting for orders. As Rin met her teammates and cousins, the reception was not all that unexpected. Naturally, they were upset with her, which was fair. Without a team leader, they were unable to participate in the 'fun' and were rather incensed by it; Mitoko even more so than Yayoi who, in her good nature, could not stay mad for too long.

"Why weren't you with us?" Mitoko seethed. "We missed out on all of the action! I only got to fight once." She held up her index finger. "ONCE!"

Rin held up her hands in an effort to calm down the angry girl. "Mitoko, I'm sorry, things were happening. Thing's I couldn't control. I was in the hospital for a while, and then I had to find my friends."

"You mean enemies! They're trying to stop Hao-sama and will do anything to make that happen!"

"So are we! Aren't we doing anything to make sure that Hao wins?"

"You aren't!"

Yayoi sat in the sand, holding her spirit ally in her lap, watching the two older girls' face off. Mitoko had a temper, she knew, but it was never anything too explosive. She usually dealt with things with patient frustration, but eventually the limits were strained.

"I'm doing what I feel is best in the current situation, which is even more dangerous than what you know or think you know! Do you actually believe that after all of this is over, things will go back to normal? Do you even realize that no one can leave this island alive? Don't look down on me until you actually know what's going on!"

Mitoko clenched her hands into fists. "I know one thing you don't. Why do you think we're on this beach in the first place?"

"Hey! Look!" Xang Ching held up a pair of binoculars to his eyes. "This is what we need to dispose of? A human ship? Are you sure about this?" He seemed worried.

"We can't have them disrupt the fight." Blocken expalined.

"I don't know. I'm alright killing other shaman, but a human battleship? I just don't want to be an enemy to the entire world."

"It doesn't matter." Turbine said. "Hao-sama will kill all of the humans when he is king. We don't need to worry about becoming the world's enemies."

"I agree with Zang Ching." Big Guy Bill concurred, fully armored and recovered from the fight with Horohoro. "We should only be attacking other shaman, not humans. We're moving away from what we should actually be doing."

"Hao-sama is fighting for a new world." Matilda said.

"We'll be able to live free from persecution of those humans." Mitoko added, waving her hand at the approaching ship.

"…I don't know…" Zang Ching was hesitant.

"We don't know if that's true." Peyote announced, standing back from the others. "We've had our share of failed missions, but one has to wonder if he's not partly to blame. Is he really fighting for such a noble cause?"

"That's blasphemy!" Hanagumi and some of the others were furious.

"I partly agree with Peyote." Rin stepped up. "We don't know anything about Hao, but he knows everything about us."

"He helped us!" Hanagumi fumed. "We were persecuted at hunted down as witches!"

"The Matsumuras were once great shaman, but they left that life. Our parents didn't even want Yayoi and me to become shaman." Mitoko said. "So they made fun of us, called us dreamers and practitioners of a worthless occupation. Hao-sama came and offered us a place in his kingdom."

"Only so I could join him!" Rin countered. "You don't even know the truth about this family!"

"They told us everything!"

"Did they tell you that if we ever left Hao, we would die? That in the beginning we were nothing more than traveling magicians? That we sold our souls for wealth and power? Even in a utopia there is something sinister working underneat. Don't believe everything you see."

Mitoko did not say another word. Instead, she thought, and thought hard.

"You see?" Peyote affirmed. "We never know what's actually going on. I realized that the day I was sent to the Patch Hospital." He and Turbine shed their veils.

"That and this is two different situations." Turbine said.

"I'm just trying to give you an eye-opener of what's really happening. I'm not meaning to start an argument."

"H-hey, can we just stop this? Let's not do anything hasty." Zang Ching was sweating.

"I don't want to argue." Peyote's voice lowered. His giant Oversoul rose up and sliced Zang Ching in half. Someone screamed and everyone jumped back to defend themselves. Peyote seemed to have went mad.

"What are you doing?!"

"Shaman get stronger when they die. Just kidding." Peyote turned and skewered Big Guy Bill. Hana- and Tamashiigumi stood back, away from the carnage, but not for long. Turbine's head exploded in a blast of blood as a bullet ripped through his skull. Everyone looked around to find the one who killed their comerade. A gloved hand attached to a blonde man held a smoking gun.

Rin and Mitoko ran back to Yayoi, whose eyes were wide with shock and horror. She was shaking violently with fear.

"Yayoi-chan!" Rin gasped. "Get out of here! Run!" They watched as Peyote killed the rest, then himself.

The strange blonde made a call, hung up, and took out a M134 Vulcan machine gun. Hanagumi attacked, shrugging off the bullets.

"Your world is interesting. Are you that loyal to your leader? You really should just give up. You're powerless against modern weapons. Still, you could be of use as test subjects in the Oyamada Company's labs."

"In you dreams! You can't beat us!" Hanagumi screamed and attacked once more, but were immediately cut down.

"Let's go!" Rin urgently whispered. She picked up Yayoi, who was too terrified to move, and Team Tamashiigumi attempted to flee from the blood soaked beach, but the man heard the sand move under their feet.

"There are still more? I need to take care of that."

Tamashiigumi stopped and faced the man. "Mitoko, we need to do something."

"Right. Take Yayoi and get out of here. I'll hold him off for as long as I can to give you two time. I'll catch up with you." She choked back a sob. "Take care of my little sister."

Rin was tempted to cry too, but pushed back the tears. "No. You need to take her and go."

"B-but."

"No buts! Go! I am the head of this family! Do as I say! GO! You don't know what it's like to lose a sibling. Don't let Yayoi go through that!"

Mitoko hesitated, nodded and ran back to her sister. "Run Yayoi! Don't look back! I'm right behind…ugh!"

"Oneechan!" Mitoko fell into the sand, a bullet in her back.

"Mitoko!" Rin turned her cousin over, but it was too late. "Why…why…WHY?!" she screamed. Tears spilled from their eyes. Yayoi was sobbing, clinging onto her sister's body.

"Oneechan! Oneechan, come back!"

Rin was cursing everything; the man, herself, the day she joined the blood festival they called the Shaman Fight, everything. _I've failed them. I swore to protect my family no matter what, and I've gotten one killed! I won't let him kill another one! _"Yayoi," she whispered, pulling the girl's face up to meet hers. "Use Pentenshi to create an illusion of you here and run away. Find my friends. They'll take care of you." She kissed her and let her go. Rin stood up and faced her opponent.

"What do you want with us? What are you doing here? What's your name?"

"Normally, I wouldn't tell you my name, but seeing as how you are going to die anyway…Tamaurazaki. And I was sent here to kill shaman."

"So you are like a shaman bounty humter."

"No. Nothing like that. It's just in the interests of interested parties, so to speak." He pulled off the safety mechanism of the Vulcan and Rin Oversouled.

Her mind flashed back to everyone in her life: her family, her friends, her love. _The good of the many outweighs the good of the one. Otousan, Okaasan, Oniisan…Horohoro…I love you. I'll see to it that we're together again. I swear on the Matsumura name._**Originally, this is where **_**Pretty in Black**_** ended, leaving you with a true Shaman King ending in which you had to form your own opinion on what happened, but I had some cameos I wanted to put in.**

* * *

**Music listened to in writing this chapter: the first part of **_**Europa**_** by Blondie from the album **_**Autoamerican**_**. It fit really well with the death scene and ending.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Here we are: the last chapter of **_**Pretty in Black**_**. Kind of hard to believe isn't it?**Pretty in Black

* * *

Chapter 32

Anna took Manta's cell phone and opened the casing. "Your father had Tamurazaki, your butler, install a microphone into your phone." She threw in on the floor and smashed it relentlessly with her wooden-soled foot. "At least things are going the way I predicted. These people are all the same. This battle will be your final training."

The word 'training' appeared to be the magic word that brought everyone in the inn, male-wise, into the room, thinking of ways to get stronger. "But I don't see why we have to fight humans to get stronger!" Yoh argued.

"All humans are the same." Anna responded. "This is a good occasion to make peace with your family. Fighting only makes bonds closer. Besides, the hardest thing for a shaman to do is fight a normal human; they are like heartless weapons created by social imbalance. A continuous lap of contradictions. In a way, they are even more tremendous than Hao!"

Jun appeared in the doorway. "Anna, we have a guest. She says it's urgent and she has a child with her." Anna nodded.

"Send them up." Footsteps were heard and a flash of red appeared at the door.

"Yoh Akasuka?" A female voice spoke in English, and since no one else spoke English, Lyserg answered.

"Sorry, no one else speaks English. Yes, that's Yoh." He pointed to the brunette. "I'm Lyserg Diethel. What can I help you with?"

The girl picked up a little girl from behind the door. "I believe she belongs to this group." The little girl's face was red and puffy from crying. "I found her in the woods crying like she was, as you can see." She wiped away a tear. Lyserg studied the girl in front of him. She speared to be his age, red hair, brown eyes, jeans and a Rugby T-shirt. She was English, or at least American, that much he could tell. He couldn't really place her accent from off the top of his head. "Anyway," she continued.

"I found her, but I don't speak Japanese, so I had to use body language to communicate. It took a while, but I was able to get a name from her." She paused. "Aren't you going to tell him?"

"Huh? Oh, yes." He translated everything she had said. Meanwhile, the girl set the younger one down, but held onto her hand.

Yoh called out. "Yayoi-chan." The girl Yayoi ran over and broke out crying again. "Yayoi-chan, why are you crying?"

"O-oneechan and Rin-chan…" It was hard to understand her.

"What about them?" he coaxed.

"We were waiting on the beach, waiting for the humans to come…they told be to run away when the blonde man came. He k-killed Oneechan." Those who could understand Japanese were stunned. Horohoro went down on his knees next to her and turned her to face him.

"Yayoi-chan." He was nervous and tried not to scare her more than she already was. "What about Rin? What happened to her?"

"I-I don't know. She told me to run away. After Oneechan died, she told me to use Pentenshi to make me a double and I did. He killed Oneechan! I hate the blonde man!" she buried her face into Horohoro's yukata, repeating her hate of the blonde. He hugged her, not only to comfort her, but himself.

The girl standing at the door was seemingly forgotten until she spoke up. "Um, Lyserg? What happened?"

"You do know about what's been happening on this island, right?"

"Of course. Everyone does. That's why my dad and I are leaving tomorrow since we dropped out of the tournament. The situation is getting too out of hand and the Patch isn't helping at all. We're leaving while we can."

"Then leave tonight. You may not get a chance tomorrow."

"Why? We're not ready yet."

"Did you see the sky split in half?"

"The ray of light; we all did. Some thought that it was a death omen."

"It may have well been. It revealed this place to the outside world. An army of human ships is coming here to investigate. A man with them killed her sister and possibly her cousin. We don't know yet."

"Th-that's terrible."

"So you and your father need to get out of here tonight." He guided her out the door.

"You're going to fight humans?"

"It looks like it. You need to go now."

The girl shook his hand in farewell. "Give my sympathies to the girl. Thank you." She made to leave, stopped and turned back with a sheepish look on her face. "I'm sorry. My name's Gweneth McRae." She waved goodbye and was gone.

"This can't be happening. This just can't be happening." Horohoro was still holding Yayoi.

"Now you know what we're dealing with." Anna said. "We have to join forces with Hao to repel this invasion. Oyamada Matsumi has two shaman with him and Tamurazaki roaming the island. We can't have anything disrupt the fight.

* * *

Yoh, Ryu, Chocolove, Faust, Horohoro, Jeanne, Lyserg, Anna, Lushist, Opacho and Hao stood on a cliff overlooking the sea, out at the fleet of warships and helicopters. Everyone was ready for the onslaught, some more than others. No one knew what the outcome would be, but Yoh expressed his desire that no one be killed, shaman or human.

Horohoro donned his Ainu battle robe, preferring it over the plain black shirt/pant combination. It was also in tribute of Rin and her love of traditional clothing. He didn't want to believe she was dead, but there seemed to be a void in his heart that said otherwise. In two hours, he and the others would head to the legendary continent of Mu for the final battles, and that wasn't enough time to investigate Yayoi's story. Until then, he swore he'd stay alive and come back here after it was all over and find her, whether she was alive or not. He couldn't abandon her like that. _Besides, if she did die, and I do, then I'll at least be with her._ He closed his eyes and drew up her image. _She always was pretty in black._

_Owari_

**An epilogue is next.**


	33. Epilogue

* * *

Pretty in Black

Epilogue

"…and that, children was the story of Little Bell and Ice Wolf." A woman in her late teens or early twenties announced to a group of children seated around her. Some clapped; some didn't clearly unsatisfied with the ending.

"Sensei." an older boy asked. "There isn't any more?"

Sensei shook her head. "No, the story ends there."

A smaller girl raised her hand and asked. "Sensei, did Ice Wolf ever find Little Bell?" Sensei smiled.

"No one knows what happened after he left for Mu with his friends."

"But you knew the story and told it in such intricate detail." Another child said. "You wern't there yourself? You're a shaman too aren't you?"

"We're all shaman here." Sensei answered patiently.

"I don't believe it. Mu doesn't exist. It's a legend like the Americans Headless Horseman."

Sensei loved these debates. It gave the children something to think about and exercise their minds with. She also loved to sometimes make things more difficult for them by throwing out philosophical, vague, or confusing answers. "Legend begins where truth ends, or…is it the other way around?"

The room was filled with noisy chatter. Sensei clapped her hands. "That's all for tonight. Now it's time for bed. Goodnight." The children bid her goodnight in return and the older ones herded the younger ones out to help get them into bed. Some were being carried out, already asleep.

After they had left and slid the door shut, another door slid open and a man walked in. Sensei turned and smiled warmly up at him.

"That's not the way I remember it." He joked.

"They wouldn't have believed me any more than they already did if I had told it the way it had really happened anata." The man sat down next to her and she fell into his embrace. "Anata, what happened after you went to Mu?" she asked. He grinned down at her with the grin she loved and remembered, for when he did, it reminded her of the past that had happened those short years ago. Without that grin that first captured her heart, she didn't know where she would be today.

"That's a story for a different time."

_

* * *

_

Beyond these tears

_My flickering smile_

_Holds the promise of love_

_From the beginning of time_

_Even though I'm alone now_

_This day is born aglow_

_With the light of our yesterdays_

_Like the first time we spoke_

_Somehow I lost you_

_Among all my memories_

_You brush past my face_

_Softly as the breeze_

_Though we slipped apart_

_Like sunlight through the leaves_

_The promise of love_

_Will live on eternally_

_Even though I'm alone now_

_My tomorrows are boundless_

_Like the kindness you showed me_

_Hidden in the night_

_Somehow I lost you_

_Among all my memories_

_In a brook's gentle laughter_

_In the scent of a flower_

_In the depth of the sky_

_You will live on eternally_

**Stay tuned for the credits next chapter. It has some notes in it that you night want to read concerning certain things that I'll reveal then. Thanks!**


	34. Credits

Pretty in Black

Credits

I'd like to thank everybody who helped me with _Pretty in Black_ and reviewed to make it possible and to keep it going. Without everyone's support, I don't know if this story would have ever seen its ending.

It's been a long journey filled with late night writing, demon writer's block, character strikes, waiting for the next volume of the manga to come out, hours of reading and video watching, suicidal computers and whacked out Internet, among other frustrations. Now, finally, I can rest. Rewritten chapters will be put up gradually, but I don't know when; most likely in the far future.

The song at the end of the epilogue is _Sekai no Yakusoku_ from the anime _Howl's Moving Castle_. It seemed like an appropriate song to put in. It was originally going to be Rin's image song, but after a prototype song, I decided just to use the mentioned song.

Will there be a sequel? Most likely. I have an outline already written out, combining the sequel of my failed Lyserg story _To the Ends of the Earth_, but it will be a long time before I will start writing again.

So, dear readers and reviewers, I leave you now with the words of _Myst_'s Atrus:

"The ending has not yet been written."

* * *

Thank you to all reviewers. You helped me here in more ways than you know. Honorable mentions are placed in bold.

**KeLpIeenoch**

Chan

Iliada

Mizula

Chandler

Runelesca

PandaYumi7

Somizura

Milk Chocolate 143

kari tao (ren's little sister)

sakura mae su

s91

Momo

* * *

Thank you everyone.

Jai Akari


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